Easy Rum and Fruit Muffins

Christmas is a time when people give each other fruitcake as a gift. Most of my friends always tell me not to give them a fruitcake. However, they love my rum and fruit muffins. I use the easy Vitamix® method to make most of my muffins. I like this recipe because it still reminds me of the fruitcake that not many people enjoy. However, these muffins certainly are a welcome gift. Here is a gift from me to you. Happy holidays!

Ingredients:

2 cups cake mix*

2 eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted butter

1/4 cup rum

1 ½ cups total of raisins, apricots, figs, cranberries, and prunes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line a 12 muffin tin with paper liners.

Chop figs, prunes, and apricots to raising-size pieces and soak them with rum for 1 hour.

In a mixing bowl, add cake mix and whisk well.

In a Vitamix® or other blender container, add eggs, sugar, milk, and oil.  Blend for 30 seconds.

Pour the well-blended egg-milk mixture into the cake mix (use a hand whisk to blend gently). Add rum -soaked fruits and continue to blend gently until combined.

Scoop the batter into the muffin tin paper liners (3/4 full).

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

You will now make your friends happy!!

*You can make a cake mix by adding 1 ½ tsp. baking powder to 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Add a pinch of salt to this mixture.

Easy Snowball Cookies

Every Christmas, snowball cookies are presented either as a gift or as a table centerpiece. This cookie has many names, such as Mexican wedding cake, Russian tea cake, or sandy cookies. I do not know why this cookie has so many names. I guess it depends on who makes it and for what occasion.  For Christmas, they should be called snowballs because they look like snow.  I will share this easy recipe now so that everyone can prepare these cookies at any time.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 stick of butter (at room temperature)

1 cup total of roasted pecans or walnuts or both*

1 tbs sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup to 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Use a food processor to chop the nuts into small pieces (add 1 tbs flour into the nuts before grinding them to prevent them from becoming a paste).

Place soft butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and use a handheld blender to beat the mixture well or melt the butter and add to the flour, nuts, and vanilla and mix together with hands or spoon. Now the dough is ready to form the cookies.

I use a small ice cream scoop to scoop dough into a small ball (roll around to form a small ball).

Place on the baking tray and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cookies cool off and roll each ball in the powdered sugar. You may have to roll the cookies twice with powdered sugar to get the really "white snow" effect.

* I both types of nuts because I love them, but you can use one or the other.

Fish with Sautéed Zucchini and Yellow Squash

For the first time during the 10 days in 1984 when my family arrived in a Thailand camp before we could come to the United States, we were served zucchini soup or stir-fried cucumber with shrimp and eggs, but mostly eggs. Those ten days are happy memories for me because we left the Vietnamese communist-controlled country to join with my father again after almost 10 years after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Today, those flashback memories serve me to create this recipe that mirrors the stir-fried cucumber with shrimp and eggs. It is an easy and healthy recipe for a lazy weekend.

Ingredients:

2 tilapia fillets, cubed

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup white onion, sliced

2 tbs oil

3 cups total of zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms, sliced

Stir-fried sauce ingredients:

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs soy sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar or honey

1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in wok. Stir in garlic and onions until fragrant.

Add fish and cook for 1 minute, then stir in the vegetables.

Add stir-fried sauce ingredients and bring to boil. Stir and cook for 2 minutes (adjust the seasoning to your liking) and serve with cooked rice.

Easy Healthy Vegetable Egg Foo Young

Most people love egg foo young from a Chinese fast food takeout because we are busy and this dish is very convenient to order before dinner time. However, Chinese egg foo young in the restaurant is a deep-fried dish; because of that, there too much oil in this dish to be considered acceptable for a healthy diet. Making egg foo young at home is very easy, and you will have total control of what is inside this dish. This dish is very tolerant of its filling ingredients – from meats, seafood, or just whatever vegetables are available.  Today, I will introduce an easy way to create this healthy dish at home with simple cooking methods so that everyone can make it.  In Vietnam, most women are good to excellent cooks; egg foo young is an easy dish to prepare to test an Asian woman’s skill at cooking; so if a woman fails this test, Asian tradition blames the mother.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

Pinch of salt, sugar, and white pepper

1/4 tsp light soy sauce

Vegetables:

1 cup total of mushrooms, diced pea and bean sprouts

1 green onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

Gravy ingredients:

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/4 tsp oyster sauce

1/4 tsp soy sauce

1/8 tsp sugar

Pinch of white pepper

Equal amounts of cornstarch and water for thickening (1/2 tsp))

1 tbs of oil (peanut or vegetable oil)

Directions:

Beat eggs in a bowl with all the seasonings. Add the vegetables and mix well.

Place the gravy ingredients in a saucepan and bring to boil.  Stir in the thickening and adjust the seasonings to your liking, and set aside.

Heat 1 tbs of oil (peanut or vegetable oil) in a nonstick skillet.

Pour in egg-vegetable mixture. 

Turn heat to medium low and cook until just set. Flip the egg.

To serve:

Place egg foo young on a serving plate and pour the gravy on top

Mushrooms and Eggs Cooked In Soy Sauce

If healthy living is the most important thing in your life, this recipe should be your healthiest choice.  I got the idea for creating this recipe after watching the 'Fox and Friends" on the Fox News channel yesterday. They showed a Weight Watchers® list of healthy foods, which included nonfat yogurt, beans, shellfish, and eggs. Mushrooms of all kinds are my favorite vegetables for cooking, either in stews, soups, or a stir-fry dish by itself or with a choice of meats. The Vietnamese cuisine has a recipe to cook meat and eggs with coconut water. It is called 'thit kho trung or thit kho tau”. Today, I use a similar method to create this fantastic, low calorie, but also still good protein dish.

Ingredients:

5 hard-boil eggs, shelled

1 lb. total combination of mushrooms –king oyster, button, and shitake.

2 tbs coconut oil

Stew sauce ingredients:

1 cup coconut water

1 tsp blackstrap molasses

1 tbs honey

1 tsp salt

1 tbs soy sauce

Other ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 shallots, sliced

2 star anise

1 stick cinnamon

Black pepper, cayenne

Directions:

Prepare mushrooms by cutting the king oyster mushrooms into bite-size pieces, and the rest of other mushrooms cut in half.

Combine the stew sauce ingredients and set nearby the stove.

Heat oil in a pan and stir in garlic, shallots, star anise, and cinnamon stick. Stir and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.

Add cut mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Add eggs and sauce mixture.

Add black pepper and cayenne or any kinds of spices to give this recipe a kick.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add some chopped cilantro stems and cook 5 minutes more. Adjust the seasoning at this point with either more honey or soy sauce. Serve with rice.

Fish Cooked with Eggplant in a Clay Pot

This is a delicious and nutritious dish of the Chinese people. This dish is usually cooked and served with a clay pot. The reason the Chinese chefs cook this dish in a clay pot is to keep it hot longer and to look very attractive on the table.  However, this dish can also be made with other cooking gadgets if a clay pot is not in your kitchen. The following is a recipe from the Chinese, but depending on the taste of each cook, the eating of and processing of it can also be a bit different. In general, the main ingredients are the fish and eggplant when processing this dish will not change. However, the additions of other spices depends on each family who will be able to add or remove.

 Ingredients:

2 tilapia fillets

2 Japanese eggplants

1/2 cup total of red, green, orange, or yellow bell pepper, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 knob fresh ginger, sliced

2 green onions (scallions), slice and separate the white part from the green part

1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil

Marinade ingredients:

1 egg white

1 tsp water

1 tsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp total of salt, sugar, and white pepper

Sauce ingredients:

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp blackstrap molasses

Thickening ingredients:

1 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp water

Other item:

1 tbs shaoxing wine

Directions:

Slice the fish into big chunks.

Combine the marinade ingredients, and add fish chunks (mix well and refrigerate for 1 hour).

Combine the sauce ingredients and set nearby the stove to be ready to cook.

Slice the eggplants into big sticks 2 inches long by ½ inch thick (as photo shows). Soak eggplant in water for a few minutes (this soaking method will help the eggplant not to soak up a lot of oil when pan-fried and drained).

Divide oil in half. Add to a pot and start to pan-fry the eggplant just until brown. Remove from the pot.

Add the rest of the oil and pan- fry the fishes, until brown. Remove the fish

at this point (the pot still has some oil left). Add ginger, garlic, and the white part of scallions. Cook and stir until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add sweet bell peppers, eggplant, and fish back into the pot.

Add sauce mixture and make a quick stir (cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes).

Combine the thickening ingredients and mix well.

Uncover the pot and check for the doneness of the eggplants and the fish. Stir in the thickening mixture. Adjust the seasoning at this point with more salt or soy sauce. Add the shaoxing wine and the green part of the scallions. Serve with rice.

Asian Watercress Salad

The reason I use the title for this recipe, Asian Watercress Salad, is that because the dressing for this salad uses sesame oil instead of olive oil. The health benefits of watercress is tremendous, which includes providing nutrition and boosting immunities. It prevents cancer and reduces the thyroid. This tiny leafy green vegetable is rich in vitamin C and also improves bone health. The most noticeable Asian recipes for watercress are soup and shaking beef salad. However, I always try to prepare my salads with low calories and with all the benefits of eating salad. The sesame dressing with garlic and ginger is a typical taste in the Asian world.  This salad certainly will bring all the health benefits from the watercress and more.

Ingredients:

4 cups watercress

2 cups total of the following vegetables: cucumber, carrot, bean sprouts, jicama, and red onion

Sesame dressing ingredients:

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/4 cup white rice vinegar

1 tbs honey

1 tbs soy sauce

1/4 tsp salt

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp fresh ginger

Other ingredients:

Roasted sesame seeds, roasted peanuts

Directions:

I use one bunch of watercress. Remove some of the stems. Wash and spin to dry.

The other vegetables are very much your choice. I diced the red onion and julienne the rest of my vegetables mixed in with the watercress in a mixing bowl.

Combine the sesame dressing ingredients in a jar with lid and shake well.

To serve:

Place salad on a serving plate and sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds and peanuts. Toss the dressing with the salad or serve the dressing on the side.

Taro Chicken Soup

Taro is the most widely known root vegetable in Asian recipes.  I grew up with this soup in my family meals almost weekly. In a recent study, scientists indicate that taro is the healthiest root vegetable. In Vietnam, taro soup is made with pork ribs, minced pork, or fresh or dried shrimp, depending on personal tastes and budgets.  For me, I like to make taro soup with chicken because chicken is a cleaner meat.  I also Use kelp broth to make this soup the all-time healthiest soup that we should always consume.

Ingredients;

5 cups kelp-vegetable broth

1 chicken breast, chopped or minced

3 cups taro, peeled and cut into 1 inch size cubes*

Marinade ingredients:

1 white part of scallion, sliced

1 shallot, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp fish sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

Pinch of white pepper

Other items:

Garnish with chopped cilantro and green part of scallion

Serve with rice

Directions:

Combine chicken meat and marinade ingredients and mix well.  Let marinate for 1 hour.

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tbs peanut oil; stir in the chicken and cook for 5 minutes.

Add broth and taro. Bring to boil. Skim off the foam or residue that rises up to the surface.

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the taro is tender.  Adjust the seasoning with more fish sauce or salt.

Ladle the soup into the tureen to serve as a family meal or in individual bowls. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro and green onion on top.

*If you are not familiar with taro. Go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taro to learn more about the history of this wonderful root vegetable.

Mackerel Stew Using a Pressure Cooker

The pressure cooker is one of my must-have gadgets in the kitchen. One of the canned foods that I allow myself to buy is mackerel in tomato sauce. I make sandwiches with this fish instead of buying the sandwiches, such as Lee sandwich or Teo sandwich, in some of the Vietnamese shops nearby.  I do not know if the shops use canned mackerel in tomato sauce or make their own. However, with the pressure cooker, I will introduce this easy recipe, which results in a healthier version of mackerel in tomato sauce. For Asian people, this version of mackerel is more inline with our tastes than the one in the can. I am happy with the results, and I hope you will be also.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of or 2 medium-sized mackerel

4 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 Tbsp coconut oil

4 shallots, chopped

1 large white onion, sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

4 green onions, cut into 2 inch lengths

Water solution ingredients:

5 cups water

2 tbs salt

2 tbs vinegar

2 tbs baking soda

Stew sauce ingredients:

1 cup water

2 tbs tomato paste

1 tbs blackstrap molasses

2 tbs honey

1 tsp salt

1 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs soy sauce

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne

3 dried chili peppers

Directions:

Cut the mackerel in 3 sections. Remove the intestines and soak fish in the water solution for 30 minutes; then drain. This process will remove all the odors from the mackerel.

Combine the stew sauce ingredients and mix well.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add shallots, garlic cloves, and white onions. Stir and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).

 Add mackerel and brown them with the fragrant oil.

Pour the stew sauce mixture atop the mackerel. Top with tomatoes and green onions.

Cover the lid as directed by your pressure cooker’s instruction booklet. Cook for 40 minutes on low-medium heat. Turn the heat off.  Let mackerel stew cook for another 10 minutes.

 Adjust the seasoning at the end of cooking time and cook a little more, if needed. The results will be like a can of good mackerel stew.