Green Tea Raisin Loaf

I have always loved anything that has green tea in it. Be it ice cream, bread or chocolates, i love them all! Most of the time though, when we eat green tea ice cream or green tea loaves, we can hardly taste the flavour of the green tea as it is mainly made from colouring and artificial flavours. So naturally, I decided to try my hands on this favourite ingredient of mine.. with real green tea powder!  Today, I am going to share with you how to make a green tea loaf with raisins in between (You can alternatively use red bean paste instead of raisins). It is absolutely delicious and have made this many times for my family. Everyone around me has been asking for the recipe so I decided to put it up on my blog. Cheers! :)

Ingredients:

140 g milk

1 egg

25 g caster sugar

1 tsp yeast

40 g butter

280 g bread flour

2 tsp green tea powder

½ tsp salt

Raisins

Method:

	Cover	Time	Temp°C	Speed
1)  Place all ingredients except raisins in TM bowl	Yes	10 sec	-	3-6
2)  Knead the mixture	Yes	5 mins	-	Knead
3)  Place dough on a pastry mat and knead manually into a tight ball and wrap it up tightly.	-	Let it grow till double in size	-	-
4)  Roll dough out into a rectangle shape, length to be the same as length of your loaf tin.  Lightly oil and flour the loaf tin.	-	-	-	-
5)  Spread the raisin over the rectangular dough and roll up dough tightly, pinch the edge to seal. Place it in loaf tin with edge facing down.	-	Cover loaf tin and let dough rise for about 1 hour	-	-
6)  Place it in cold oven to bake for total of 35 mins		30 mins w/ cover, last 5 mins w/o cover	180 deg

Refreshing Lemongrass Drink

Lemongrass has detoxifying effects.  It contains Citral that helps to clean the kidney, liver, pancreas, digestive tract, bladder etc and removes unwanted toxic substances through the urine.  Doctors and researchers have discovered that 1 gram of lemongrass contains enough Citral to prompt apoptosis (self-destruction) of cancer cells.  Other research has also shown that are many more benefits of lemongrass eg improve digestive system, cope with stress, ease flatulence, stomach cramp and pain etc etc.

Making this lemongrass drink is not only very easy, but also tasty, refreshing and well loved by many!

Ingredients:

3 stalks lemongrass (peel the outer skin, washed and cut cross section about ½ cm thickness)

10-15 pcs pandan leaves (washed and cut cross section about ½ cm thickness)

160 g honey rock sugar

1.5 litre water

Method:

	Cover	Time	Temp°C	Speed
1)  Put cut lemon grass, pandan leaves and water to boil	Yes	15 mins	100	2 Reverse
2)  Add honey rock sugar	Yes	3 mins	100	2 Reverse
3)  Let it sit for 15 mins to infuse	Yes	15 mins	-	-
4)  Sieve the drink and serve it hot or cold.  Enjoy!	-	-	-	-

After The Break

Hi friends,

It has been a while since I last updated my blog.  For those who are following my blog, I apologise for this sloppiness as I was renovating and moving into my new home!

My house is ready now and I have settled down into this beautiful home. I have designed an open concept kitchen with no doors, stoves and cooker hoods because the Thermomix machine is able to cook with no oil fumes! I have been using my Thermomix for 3 years now, and the more I use it the more I love it. By just using one machine, I can now make my breakfast, lunch, dinner and even desserts too!   

I have taken some pictures of my kitchen to share with friends who share a small kitchen like mine.  Don’t worry, just hack the walls down… haha!

I will be continuing to share my recipes and the next recipe I am going to share is a very refreshing Lemongrass drink. Stay Tuned! 

Cheers,

Mei

Beetroot Salad

My sister is on holiday to Europe and she entrusted me to water her plants every day.  I must say it is very therapeutic and I am enjoying it.  The limes are juicy and turning yellow, I harvested a small basket of it, so we can have lime juice.  With Thermomix it is just so convenient, lime juice can be done in less than 2 secs (see my previous post) and cleaning up is such a breeze :>

Today, I want to share a salad with all my friends.  It is so easy to prepare and it is very nutritious.  In my country, many people do not really know how to eat beetroot. The most common and favorite among locals is the ABC juice (Apple, Beetroot and Carrot).  It is my favorite too.  Besides this very refreshing juice, many people do not know what other way to eat it.  So, I am going to show you a beetroot salad which is very delicious too.

Ingredients:

1 medium size Beetroot (peeled and quartered)
1 medium size Carrot (roughly chopped)
½ small Red Onion (quartered)
1 Green Apple (quartered)
1 small stalk of Coriander (break into 3 inches length)
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and Sugar to taste
 

Method:

	Cover	Time	Temp°C	Speed
1)  Put all ingredients in TM bowl to chop	Yes	3 secs	-	5
2)  Scrap down with spatula and chop again	Yes	3 secs	-	5
3)  Salad is ready to serve	-	-	-	-

Calamansi Juice

Calamansi is a great citrus fruit and superb source of vitamin C and natural antioxidants.  Daily consumption of calamansi juice is ideal to prevent wrinkles and eliminates free radicals and toxins.  This drink without sugar, is a wonderful way to lose weight while keeping yourself refreshed.  It is a wonderful good digestive stimulant as well as appetizer, and is a good source of potassium.

With calamansi so cheaply available in Singapore and juicing it with Thermomix takes only seconds, we should sizzle our way to good health with a glass of revitalizing, rejuvenating and refreshing drink daily.

Ingredients:

100 g raw sugar
15 pcs of Calamansi
800 g of cold water
 

Method:

	Cover	Time	Temp°C	Speed
1)  Place sugar in TM bowl and grind	Yes	10 secs	-	10
2)  Add calamansi and water	Yes	Pulse 2x(short)	-	Turbo
3)  Place simmering basket in TM bowl to sift out the skin and seeds. Pour onto jug and  keep it in the fridge ready for serving	-	-	-	-

Chwee Kueh

Chwee Kueh is a favourite local breakfast.  It is mainly made of rice flour and the toppings is fried preserved radish.  This is a simple dish but can be quite addictive!

Ingredients:

For rice cakes – make around 13 pieces average size

200 g rice flour

20 g arrowroot flour (If you do not have arrowroot flour, you can use cornflour)

1 kg water

A big pinch of salt

15 g oil

1 litre water for steaming

Method:

	Cover	Time	Temp°C	Speed
1)  Add rice flour, arrowroot flour, water, salt and oil into TM bowl and cook	Yes	5½ mins	80	4
2)  Pour mixture into small aluminium bowls, arrange in Varoma Dish and steam	-	25 mins	V	3
3)  Cool to allow rice cakes to firm up before serving.	-	-	-	-

Ingredients:

For toppings

150 g dried preserved radish minced (salty type)

50 g garlic – peel away skin

70 g oil

2 tsp sesame seeds

½ tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp sugar (if using sweet preserved radish, no need to put sugar, add some soy sauce instead)

Sesame oil to taste

Method:

	Cover	Time	Temp°C	Speed
1)  Wash preserved radish by squeezing it in water and pour it over a sieve.  Do this 2 times to remove salt.  Squeeze it dry and put it in TM bowl to fry it dry.  Put it aside.	No	4 mins	V	2
2)  Put garlic in TM bowl to chop.  Scrape down.	Yes	5 secs	-	6
3)  Put dried radish back into TM bowl with the garlic.  Add oil to fry.  In between open cover to scrape down	Yes	10 mins	V	2
4)  Add sesame seeds, dark soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil and further fry.  In between open cover to scrape down	Yes	10 mins	V	2
5) Remove rice cakes from bowl and add toppings, ready to serve.