Sweet Japanese Milk Bread

This sweet and soft bread is similar to Hawaiian dinner rolls and also in Asian countries, like China and Korea. The Japanese use this basic soft dough to make all kinds of bread with bean, pineapple or custard fillings. I looked for Asian bread recipes for quite some time, and finally I found this recipe on the Internet. The secret for making this soft bread is from the water roux called Tangzhong. Making Tangzhong is very simple, and the leftover bread can be refrigerated for a few days. I am so happy with this bread because the soft dough can be used for many different recipes for desserts that are selling in Asian bakeries, and a bread machine is a big help.
Ingredients:
The Tangzhong starter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup water

Bread dough
1/2 cup Tangzhong
1 egg
4 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
3 tbs butter
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast

1 tbs soft butter for greasing the loaf pan

Directions:
To make the Tangzhong starter:
Whisk flour into water and cook in a saucepan over medium heat until the flour thickens. Remove from the heat and let it cool off before use.

Place the starter and all the bread dough ingredients in the order as listed above in the bread machine. Select the dough function and press start. Using soft butter, grease the inside of a 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan. When the dough cycle is done, the machine will beep. Remove dough from the bread pan and place onto lightly floured surface.

 Let dough rest for 5 minutes then divide dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion of dough into a small rectangular size. Fold two ends to meet in the center. Roll each of them like a small log. Place each of them side by side onto a prepared loaf pan.

Butter the top of the bread dough and cover with a kitchen towel. leave the bread dough in warm place to rise for a second time (about 45 minutes or until double in size). Bake bread in a preheated oven set to 375° for 25 to 30 minutes.

Easy Brazillian Cheese Bread

I posted the recipe for this bread a few months ago that was a little bit more difficult to prepare. Then my friend after vacationing in Brazil last month came home and shared with me a new easy Brazilian cheese bread, and I cannot believe how easy it is to make this wonderful cheese bread. The ingredients are almost the same as my posted recipe, but the new method is much simpler. Feel free to add any kind of herbs to make this bread more delicious to your own taste. 
Ingredients:
1 cup tapioca flour or starch
1 egg
1 cup cheese (your choice, I use Mexican cheese blend)
1/2 cup skim or whole milk
1/4 cup chia seeds gel (my choice to replace some oil)
1/4 cup olive oil*
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbs soft butter for greasing the muffin tins

Directions;

Place all the ingredients in the blender and reserve 1/2 cup of cheese for topping. Pulse a few times until smooth.

Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of blender so everything will get blended. Pour the batter into the prepare muffin tins.

Top with the remaining cheese and bake in preheated oven set to 400° for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

*If you don't have chia seeds gel, then the oil should be increased to 1/3 cup

Mexican Chicken Taquitos

I do most of my grocery shopping at Costco®, and the roasted chicken at Costco is inexpensive and tastes good. I create quite a lot of simple meals from this roasted bird. It truly saves time and is economical. A chicken taquito basically puts cooked chicken, cheese, chipotle pepper, cumin, garlic and onions inside a tortilla wrap, which is then deep-fried. I think as individual cooks, we can create our own taquitos depending on the ingredients that we have on hand. That is the beauty of this dish. By cutting back on the oil, we can bake the taquitos, and they will still be very delicious.

Ingredients:
2 cups roasted chicken, shredded
1/2 cup cooked corn
1/2 cup white onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs taco mix(store bought)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbs fresh oregano, chopped or 1tsp dry oregano
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup Mexican cheese blend (Kirkland brand)
2 tbs canola oil
Ten- 9 inch tortilla wraps
Garnish with sour cream, salsa or guacamole

Directions:

In a large nonstick pan, add oil. Sauté the onions and garlic until fragrant.

 Stir in chicken and the rest of the ingredients up to green onions. Cook the chicken and the spicy blend together until they release a wonderful smell. Add green onions and remove from heat.

To assemble the taquitos:

Warm the tortillas in a preheated oven set to 350° for 10 minutes or until the tortillas are pliable. Tortillas can be microwave for 15 second each

Place one tortilla wrap on the working surface. Place about 2 tbs of chicken mixture on top of the

tortilla wrap followed by 2 tbs cheese on top. Start rolling the tortilla wrap as if creating a cigar, making sure it is firm and all the ingredients are covered.

 Continue in the same manner until all the tortilla wraps are rolled up. At this point, the chicken taquitos can be frozen for later use.

Secure the taquitos with toothpicks, if frying them. After heating a large pan, add 1 cup of oil and fry chicken taquitos until golden brown.
For baking, place taquitos into baking dish. Spray the top of taquitos with cooking oil and bake in a preheated oven set to 400° for 25 minutes or until crispy.

Quinoa-Chocolate Bread

I say that this is the combination of making a delicious, nutritious loaf of bread by using a bread machine
Ingredients:
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup water
1 egg
2 tsp dry milk powder
1/4 cup chia seeds gel
1 tbs vegetable shortening or oil
1 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
3 cups bread flour
1 tbs active dry yeast
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Directions:

All the ingredients must be at room temperature. Using a bread machine, add all the ingredients as listed above except the chocolate chips into bread pan. Select the dough function and press start. At the end of the program, press stop. Remove dough from the machine and let it rest for 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface before hand-shaping.

Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a round or rectangular shape (the shape will not matter because it will take the shape of the loaf pan. Place the chocolate chips in the center of the dough and roll up like a jelly roll. Fold both ends of the dough to seal the chocolate chips inside the dough.

Spray a 10" x 6" loaf pan with cooking spray. Drop the shaped dough inside the loaf pan. Spray more cooking oil on top to prevent dough from becoming dry. Cover dough with kitchen towel and let rise in warm place for another 40 minutes or until almost double in size.

Preheat oven to 375 ° and bake bread for 30 minutes. Watch the bread at 10 minutes before the baking is finished, and use foil to cover bread to prevent it from further browning.
What a beautiful loaf of bread!

Turkey Meatballs (Nem nuong Ga tay)

In Vietnam, meatballs are made with ground pork, pork fat, and a lot of garlic. They are then steamed and grilled over charcoal and served on top of rice noodles and accompanied with sweet-spicy dipping sauce. This delicious meal is everywhere on the streets of Vietnam or can be seen in a fancy restaurant with the meatballs rolled in rice paper. Either way, these meatballs are always the choice for a simple meal or pot luck party. Each city in Vietnam makes its own meatball recipe with a few changes of spices and given its own name, like nem nuong Ninh Hoa, Thu duc, or nem nuong Saigon. I am changing the ground pork to turkey and eliminating the pork fat to make these meatballs leaner and healthier, so I can enjoy more often. I could then name this dish after myself, but the recipe would still be prepared the same way as if for ground pork. Try both kinds of meat to appreciate this wonderful dish and feel free to name your own.

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground turkey
1/4 cup water
3 tbs fish sauce
3 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbs canola oil
3 tbs cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
7 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs black pepper

Dipping sauce:
1/4 cup ground turkey
1/4 cup sweet rice, washed and drained
1 can coco rico
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 shallot, chopped
1 garlic, minced
One-4 oz crab paste
Fish sauce, salt and sugar to taste
1 egg beaten.
To serve:

Cooked rice noodles,
Vietnamese vegetable plate (dia rau song)
Rice paper, softened with water
Scallion oil*
Roasted peanut, chopped

Directions:

Place the turkey meat in a container with lid

In a measuring cup, combine water, fish sauce, sugar, salt, black pepper, garlic, baking powder, cornstarch and oil. Mix until all the ingredients dissolve.

Pour over the turkey meat. Mix well together. Cover with lid and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, place meat in a food processor and pulse a few times (the texture should not be like a paste but should have some small chunks of meat remaining.

 Wet hands with oil and shape meat into 1 inch small balls.

Place meatballs onto a round baking dish and steam on high heat for 10 minutes. Also meat balls can be thread on to bamboo skewer.

Do not over steam the meatballs because the meatballs have to grill over charcoal for the smoke and grill marks.

If not intending to finish the meatballs on the same day, then the meatballs can be placed in Ziploc® bags and frozen for a few months.

or roll in rice paper


To make the sauce:
In a saucepan, add oil, shallot, and garlic. Cook shallot and garlic until fragrant (about 3 minutes). Stir in meat, crab paste and cook for 7 minutes. Add rice and coco and bring to a boil. Season with salt, fish sauce, and sugar, if needed. Cook the rice mixture for 10 minutes. Pour hot rice mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour rice mixture back into a saucepan ; add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the sauce from heat and stir in beaten egg. Now the sauce is ready to use.

To make scallion oil:
Thinly slice 2 green onions: heat 1/4 cup of canola oil in small sauce pan until hot. Throw in chopped green onion and pinch of salt . Remove from heat.

Crockpot Quinoa Breakfast

I love to use a crockpot for this recipe. Breakfast is ready in the morning without any fuss.
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups water
2 tbs honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup dry cranberries
1/4 cup raisins

Directions:
Using a 2 qt crockpot, put in all the ingredients. Stir a few times to combine. Cover and turn the heat to low setting for about 4 to 6 hours or overnight.
In the morning, stir the quinoa with a fork and serve with sliced bananas or any kind of fruit. Save leftover cooked quinoa for making sandwich bread.

Quick Raisin Carrot Bread

I used my cake mix recipe to create this quick bread, but the Betty Crocker cake mix or any brand cake mix will work. Having some cake mix ready in the pantry will help to prepare many quick breads, like banana, carrot, zucchini, etc.
 
Ingredients:
2 cups cake mix
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 dry nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups shredded and chopped carrots
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup skim milk
One- 4oz apple sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°.
Spray  medium 8" x 5" x 3" loaf pans.

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.

In another bowl, whisk eggs, oil, apple sauce and skim milk until combined.

Add the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.

 Use a spatula to fold them together. Stir in the raisins and carrots.

Mix lightly until all are incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.