Category Archives: International Dishes and desserts

by sugarbaker | April 27, 2012

Japanese Yokan dessert made with sweet red bean

Ingredients:

1 stick of kanten also known as agar-agar (about 10 ounces)
3 cups of water
3 1/2 ounces of sugar
1 fourteen ounce can of puree azuki beans or 2 cups azuki red beans soaked overnight than cooked until tender

Directions:

Rinse the agar-agar and tear it into several pieces, cover with water in a small bowl and allow to soak for about 30 minutes (place an object on the kanten to prevent it from floating up).

Squeeze out as much water from the agar-agar as you can, tear into very small pieces and place in a in a small sauce pan, add water and agar-agar, cook over medium until the agar-agar has dissolved.

Strain melted agar-agar through a small hand-held sieve into another pan.

Make sure it’s clear with no lumps.
Add sugar and continue stirring over medium heat until dissolved.
Remove from heat and add puree azuki beans

Save a few cooked whole beans to be added at the end.

Return pan to the heat and cook until mixture comes to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring continually.

Remove pan from heat and allow to cool.

At this point, pour the kanten into a pan. I like to use small pan that has individual squares for baking.*

Pour the kanten into pan, add extra whole cooked beans for a special appearance. cool and refrigerate until set.

The jelly will be ready to eat when it is completely firm and chilled. Cut into squares and serve with a nice green tea,

Use a baking pan that has little squares so that you can make several individual jellies, comes out perfect like the photo. (I used an

individual brownie pan).

1 Comment

Filed under Desserts, International Dishes and desserts, Japanese, snack

Tagged as I love my Japanese Yokan dessert recipe, Japanese dessert recipe, Japanese sweet jelly dessert, Japanese sweet red bean recipe, Japanese Yokan dessert, Japanese Yokan recipe, Sweet red bean dessert japanese style, Yokan recipe, Yokan snack recipe, Yokan sweet red bean snack

by sugarbaker | May 10, 2011

Spice Red Lentil Soup Middle Eastern style

A very popular soup in the Middle East and India.

Lentils have been shown to to an excellent source of vitamins and minerals such as Iron, Potassium and Foliate.

Lentil soup was blended in a blender ( photo )

Ingredients
2 cups red lentils washed and soaked for about one hour unless you have the tiny red lentils no soaking required
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion diced
4 cloves of garlic diced
1 1/2 inch ginger diced
3 medium tomatoes diced
2 cartons of Organic Chicken Broth Low sodium 32 Fl. OZ each carton
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 Cayenne pepper ( Chile Cayenne ) add more of you like spicy
1 teaspoon cumin either seeds or ground
1teaspoon paprika
salt & ground black pepper
red chili flakes ( optional )
Garnish with a slice of lemon & cilantro

In a heated skillet add olive oil and onions, Saute the onions until translucent than add the garlic. Stir in all the spices.

Stir fry 2 minutes, set a side. In a medium size soup pot add the chicken broth, lentils, diced tomatoes, ginger and onion mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until tender. Simmer 30 ~45 minutes or until tender.
Do not over cook the lentils or you will get mush.
Add salt & pepper to your liking. Add more Cayenne pepper if desire a more spicy soup. If you like a smooth soup, you can blend the soup in a blender.

straight from the pot a texture lentil soup

Enjoy with my Pita chips recipe <3

Baba Ghanoush Middle Eastern Eggplant Dip made easy

Baba ghanoush is an Arab dish of eggplant made into a dip by mashing roasted eggplant adding garlic tahini, lemon juice, a little yogurt, cumin and salt. In different parts of the Middle East pomegranate concentrate is added, diced onions, etc. In Turkey the eggplant is sliced not mashed. Tahini is a sesame seed paste used in many middle eastern dishes.

Ingredients:
2 large eggplants
1/4 cup Tahini
4 cloves of mashed garlic
1 large lemon
2 tablespoons yogurt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt
chili powder ( optional )
extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

For Garish use any of the following
parsley. cucumber, dried fried onions, mint

Directions

Preheat the oven at 375 degree. Rinse eggplant and pat dry. Pick eggplant with a fork or knife, this prevents the eggplant from popping open.
Place eggplant on a grill turning the eggplant frequently until it has that roasted aroma and eggplant starts to feel soft. About 10 ~13 Min’s. Don’t forget to turn the eggplant so that it does not burn.
If you do not have a grill, wrap the eggplant in foil and roast in the oven for about 30-35 minutes or until soft.

While eggplant is roasting, peel the garlic, chop and smash garlic into a paste.

In a bowl add yogurt 1/4 cup of tahini paste, 1/4 cup of lemon juice (more if needed). Set aside.

Transfer eggplant on a baking sheet if grilling and bake for about 15-20 minutes until you feel that the eggplant is mushy soft.

Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Peel off the dark skin and discard. Place peeled eggplant in the bowl with garlic, lemon juice and tahini paste adding cumin and salt to taste.
Mix well, adding more tahini and lemon juice according to taste.

Place eggplant dip in a container and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Serve on a platter and garish, drizzle olive oil over the Baba Ghanoush.

I cut a cucumber in a design and dipped it in chili powder using it as a stamp. You can also dip the stamp in paprika, sumac or chili powder

serve with my homemade pita chips. The recipe is posted. pita chip recipe

Enjoy with pita bread<3

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Filed under Appetizer, Dip, International Dishes and desserts, Middle Eastern

Tagged as Baba Ghanoush dip recipe, Baba Ghanoush middle eastern eggplant dip, Easy Baba Ghanoush recipe, easy to make Baba Ghanoush recipe, eggplant dip Baba Ghanoush recipe, Middle Eastern eggplant dip recipe

by sugarbaker | February 26, 2011

Spicy Tortilla Soup with confetti chip strips

Ingredients:
oil for stir frying vegetables
1 small onion chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
3 cloves of finely chopped Garlic
2 chopped jalapeno seeded
2 diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon red chili powder
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
5 cups chicken broth
2 large avocados sliced
sea salt (to your liking)
fresh ground pepper (to your liking)
1/2 cup can black beans (optional)
cilantro and lime slices for garnish (optional)

Add oil to pan at a medium temperature start adding chopped onions, garlic, bell pepper, tomatoes and jalapeno, stir frequently. Stir fry about 3 minutes.
Add chicken broth, chili powder, and bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium, adding cooked chicken, black beans, pepper and sea salt. Simmer 5 minutes.

Garnish with fresh sliced avocados, cilantro, tortilla corn strips or chips.
Be creative by adding shredded cheese, bacon crumble, chives or a dollop of creme fraiche.

Serve with toasted slice baguette