Anniversary Dinner

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We just celebrated our 2nd year anniversary yesterday. Time flies! Two years already. How fun was it on our wedding day 2 years ago. A few my family members flew over from Korea. We had to take them around Perth for a week, you being a driver and me being a tour guide. Thankfully nice weather on our wedding day (we had a wedding in wineries). Cute red mini cooper. Beautiful mums. Oops, we were running a little late and forgot to take flowers for mums. So the best man gave them hand-picked garden flowers instead. Bruno Mars for our wedding aisle song. Happy tears. Lots of hugs and kisses. Lots of wine. I fell on my bum at the table because I didn’t know Daniel was pulling my chair out when I was sitting down. Touching speeches. Good catch ups with friends and family. It all happened so quickly. Happy anniversary honey and love you 하늘만큼 땅만큼 xxx

Thyme and Olive Bread such a beautiful combination, fragrant thyme and salty black olives. If you haven’t tried it yet, you must. My trick, using a water spray when you put the dough in the oven makes a nice crust outside, but still moist inside. 
Thyme Olive BreadGrilled Saffron-Infused Polenta with Mushroom Ragu It is a little time consuming this dish because you need to make polenta ahead of time with saffron and then grill in a pan. But it’s totally worth it! Always remember, polenta is quite blend by itself, so it needs a generous amount of seasoning and something like saffron makes it extra special. I sauteed mushrooms in a splash of balsamic vinegar – yum!
Mushrooms on polentaGrilled mullet with Pear Salad I pan-fried mullet in coconut oil for a beautiful crispy skin and served with pear, dried cranberries and almond salad dressed in mustard vinaigrette.
Grilled MulletOsso Bucco Daniel’s favorite. Yes, you are a meat lover 🙂 3 hours of braising in lots of spices finally paid off. Meat is falling off the bone and the sauce is nicely reduced. Best part – when you hold that bone and suck bone marrow!
Osso BuccoCoconut Panna Cotta with Mango, Citrus maple syrup and Pink peppercorns something light for dessert. I used coconut milk, no creme, to make panna cotta and served with fresh mangoes to make it more tropical. You might think it is weird to sprinkle pink peppercorns in sweets, but geez it is divine!
Coconut panna cotta

Posted in: Dessert, Dinner, My recipes, salads

Chocolate Cake For Weekend Breakfast

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Chocolate CakeFrench press, or plunger, is an easy and consistent way to brew coffee at home. Here is what we do.

  • For one and a bit cups, you’ll need 20 grams (about two tablespoons of beans/ground coffee) and 300ml of boiled water.
  • Drop your freshly ground coffee (6-8g) into your plunger pot.
  • Let the boiling water stand for 1 minute – pouring boiling water over the coffee could burn it, which would give you a cup of coffee with a bitter taste.
  • Pour the boiling water into your coffee cup as well to warm it up.
  • Add the boiled water vigorously (or stir quickly) to wet all the grounds. Let it brew for three minutes. Use a timer or clock if you’re a perfectionist!
  • Plunge it down carefully. If you push the plunger down too quickly, the grains can come up the sides.
  • If you can’t push the plunger down with two fingers then you have ground your coffee too fine, and it may not taste as desired.
  • Pour the brewed coffee into the pre-warmed coffee cup and enjoy!

Chocolate Cake1Ingredients

1/3 cup melted coconut oil
3 tablespoons cacao powder
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup almond meal
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
1 egg
a pinch of sea salt

Add all wet ingredients in a large bowl. Sift dry ingredients and add into wet ingredients. Stir and combine well with a spatula. Pour the mixture into a cake tin and bake in the preheated oven (180) for 30 minutes or until cooked. Let it cool before you remove from the tin.

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack

Baked Green Tea Cheesecake

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It is Saint Patrick’s Day today. A lot of Irish people must be wearing shamrocks or green clothes and celebrating their national holiday with green foods and drinks around the world. I never knew about St Patrick’s Day until I came to Australia. I guess there is no big Irish community in Korea so I never heard about it back then. Anyways I’m definitely not Irish nor Christian, but wanted to make something green. Green foods don’t really sound appetizing though the first thing comes in my mind is mold? Then green desserts sound better to me. Mint, pistachio, green tea… So I decided to make baked green tea cheesecake. Maybe my oven was a little hot as you can see the cracks on top. Keep an eye on this baby while it’s in the oven so that you don’t get a giant crack like mine or it might get too brown on top. You can also add some fluffy whipped cream by CreamMachine on top based on your preference. Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Green Tea CheesecakeIngredients

1 tbsp of green tea powder
1 tbsp of kale powder
200g low-fat cream cheese at room temperature
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1 tbsp of self-raising flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of vanilla bean powder
1 tbsp of melted coconut oil
1 egg at room temperature

For crust
1/2 cup oats
1 tbsp of cacao powder
1/2 cup of dark chocolate buttons
5 dates
1 tbsp of desiccated coconut
a pinch of salt
water if needed

To make a crust, put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until you get a dough consistency. Add a bit of water if too dry. Pour the mixture into a spring-form tin and press evenly with the back of the spoon. Set in the fridge while making a filling. Gently beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and coconut oil in a mixing bowl. Then add green tea powder, flour, vanilla bean powder and baking powder and combine well with a spatula. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust. Bake in the water bath in the preheated oven (160) for 40-45 minutes until cooked. When the cake is done, take out of the oven and cool down in the tin. Refrigerate to set at least for an hour before serve.

Posted in: Baking, Dessert, My recipes

Broiled Grapefruit with Cinnamon Cottage Cheese

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It can be quite warm or cold in March being a transition from summer to autumn in Perth. One day it is 30+ degrees, next day it drops down to 20. How crazy is that? I took advantage of the cool morning making these broiled grapefruit beauties for a snack. I never made or tasted it before, so was curious about how it would turn out. It is simple to make though I was so impressed with its bittersweet flavour and radiant pink colour. Perfect brunch or snack for chilly weather when it’s served warm with a bit of cheese or yogurt. Highly recommended!

Broiled GrapefruitIngredients

1 Grapefruit
1 tsp of maple syrup or agave or honey
1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
100g cottage cheese

Wash the grapefruit and cut it in half. Cut around the outside of the grapefruit to loosen them. Drizzle maple syrup. Broil for about 3-5 minutes until caramelised on top (don’t burn!). Serve warm with cottage cheese and sprinkle of cinnamon and vanilla. Other serving options? with yogurt, granola, breakfast muffin.

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian

Mini Hummingbird Bundt Cake

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Hummingbird Cake
Hummingbird cake is a banana pineapple spice cake with a cream cheese frosting from the United States. I have no idea why it is called Hummingbird cake and no one does? The recipe was published by Mrs. Wiggin in Southern Living Magazine in 1978 and was elected the magazine’s favorite recipe in 1990. Some say that the cake is so delicious it makes you hum with happiness while others think the cake is named because it’s sweet enough for hummingbirds (hummingbirds will select only the sweetest of nectar to drink). The first one sounds good to me 🙂 I made little changes to the traditional recipe using coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, reducing the amount of sugar (hummingbirds might not like this), using coconut sugar instead of brown sugar, using flaxseed meal instead of eggs and cottage cheese for frosting. It is similar to making a carrot cake, simply mixing all wet ingredients and dry ingredients, no stand mixer needed. Either making with the traditional recipe or making changes like me, it is lovely using fruits and veggies in baking, a little healthier I guess. And the house smelled incredible while it was being baked in the oven. Beautiful moist flavoursome cake! Try today or weekend…

Hummingbird Cake1Ingredients

150g self-raising flour
50g fine dessicated coconut
50g coconut sugar
1 grated carrot
1 mashed ripe banana
1/4 cup chopped pineapple
1/4 grounded walnut
1 tbsp of coconut oil
1 tsp of molasses
1 tsp of vanilla bean powder
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
1 tsp of coriander ground
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
100g milk
10g flaxseed meal
a pinch of Himalayan salt

For frosting
1 tbsp of low fat cottage cheese
1 tbsp of raw honey
a handful of walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180. To make flax “eggs”, mix flaxseed meal and milk in a bowl and set aside. Combine grated carrot, mashed banana, coconut oil, coconut sugar and molasses in a separate bowl and then mix with flax “eggs”. Add all dry ingredients (sifted flour and spices) into the wet mixture. Stir to combine with a spatula. Pour the mixture into a prepared baking tin and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until cooked. Cool it down and spread frosting on top.

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian