Baked Hash Brown Inspired Potato Cake

I've been meaning to try this recipe I found from one of my favorite blogs, Two Tarts -  baked eggs with crispy hash brown  for a while now, but had few issues: 1. I did not have a cast iron pan; 2. My husband's vegan. But now that I have a cute cast iron pan, I only have to resolve one more thing - make this vegan.

What I really like about this recipe is the idea of pressing the shredded potatoes in the iron pan. Just thinking about it makes me imagine how crispy it can get when done right. Since I can't top it with eggs, I thought I should just add more shredded vegetables on top turning it to a sort of pancake - only, crunchy at the bottom.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup shredded/grated potatoes (I used food processor to grate the veggies)
1/2 zucchini, shredded/grated
1 small carrots, shredded/grated
some paprika powder
some garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste  

1. Extract as much water as you can from the potatoes, this is the key to get it crisp. I used a potato presser so it's easier to dehydrate. Do the same to the carrots and zucchini.

2.  Combine the shredded potatoes, zucchini and carrots. Sprinkle some paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper according to your liking. Mix well.

3. Heat iron pan and oil it.

4. When warm enough, pour the mixture and spread it all over the pan. Press it flat on the pan with the use of the back of a spoon. Set the stove to medium heat so that it doesn't burn the bottom. Leave it and let it cook for about 5-10 minutes, or until it's crispy golden brown at the bottom. You can check this by lifting the sides.

5. Heat oven to about 175 C. Set it to broiler mode.

6. Place the cast iron pan inside the oven and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes, depending how cooked you want the top to be. It's nice when it's golden brown :).\

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Goat Cheese Wrapped in Roasted Eggplant

If you are tired of tortang talong or plain fried eggplants, here's another way you can cook and prepare them - with an added glamour. It's easy to make, just a bit challenging to wrap (at least to me).

Ingredients:


- 3 long eggplants, washed thoroughly
- olive oil
- Goat cheese (or kesong puti for a cheaper local version)
- culinary string
- salt and pepper to taste


Garnish:
- minced parsley or corriander leaves.
- toasted bread

1. Chop off the stalk. Thinly slice the eggplant lengthwise on both sides removing its skin. Then make 2 slices (depending how thick your eggplant is). This will be your pair of wrapper. Do the same with the rest of your eggplants.

2. Brush olive oil on both sides. Sprinkle salt and pepper, and grill it. If you have no grill, then frying is fine. Turn to the other side when it's browned and cooked. Set aside.

3. Slice cubes of goatcheese, just enough to fit the width of the eggplant slices.

4. When the eggplant has cooled down, lay 2 slices on top of each other making a cross. Lay the goat cheese at the center and wrap it with the eggplant slices. Then fasten it using a culinary string.

5. Heat it in an oven toaster of 3 minutes.

Makes 3 pcs.

To serve:

Lay it on top of a sliced toasted bread and sprinkle some parsley or corriander leaves. Best served with a green leafy side salad.

Great suggestions for some variation of this dish:

a. Use courgette instead of eggplants if you aren't a fan of eggplant (trust me I know people who wouldn't dare take a bite on an eggplant).

b. Use feta cheese as a filling.

c. Coat the goatcheese with sesame seeds or poppy seeds for an added texture and flavour.

d. Maximize the enjoyment of this dish by pairing it with other superb, healthy dishes like stiry fried mushrooms and brocolli or a nice kale apple salad.

Big thanks to the suggestions on improving the dish, J. Roper and an anonymous commenter I'll call Lekker Friend :), and for sharing your experience trying out this recipe!

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Rice Noodles in Spicy Asian Inspired Broth

Our good friend Glenn from the Netherlands cooked dinner for us during my last weekend there, and yet again, it was superb. Glenn and I seem to share the same taste when it comes to food. I can't remember a time where he prepared something I didn't like. I have stolen acquired recipes from him in the past, and this one is definitely worth sharing.

This recipe is based on how I remembered the dish tasted like so I tweaked stuff a little bit based on my memory of the flavours.

Ingredients:

Rice Noodles

Broth:
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 cups water
- 1 vegetable broth cube
- 2 tsp. Sambal Oelek (Indonesian chili condiment)
- 1 tbsp. sugar (optional)
- corriander powder
- salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:
- french beans
- fried tofu cubes
- togue
- fresh corriander leaves
- slice of lime/lemon

1. Soak the rice noodles in a bowl of tap water and set aside. This should soften it.

2. Prepare the toppings. Trim both ends of the french beans and parboil it. Careful not to overcook to keep it crunchy. When the colors become vibrant, remove it from the boiling hot water and shock it with cold water. Drain and set aside.

3. Cut tofu into cubes and fry until golden brown. Set aside.

4. Pour 4 cups of water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Add the vegetable broth cube and give it a stir.

5. Add the coconut milk.

6. Add 2 tsp. sambal oelek. Add more if you like it spicy. Bring the broth in to a boil and then set it to low heat.

7. Add the sugar, a good amount of corriander powder, then salt and pepper to taste. Adjust accordingly.

8. Drain the rice noodles and then pour hot water in it. Wait until it's cooked and soft enough for eating. Drain and set aside.

To serve:Arrange the rice noodles in a bowl. Add a scoop of broth. Top it with the beans, tofu, togue, corriander leaves and garnish it with a slice of lemon or lime. This dish serves 2 to 3.

Note: Rice noodles absorb liquid easily that's why I like to cook it separately. It is also heavier in the stomach than it looks so don't cook too much noodles.

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Challenged by a Sandwich

I recently booked a food photo gig that kept me challenged for two weeks now (and counting). The food to shoot - sandwiches. One important thing I realized to be true:

Photographing a sandwich is not as easy as eating it (quoting my friend JM)

I have 15 sandwiches to nail - and for the first 5 sandwiches I shot, I am only happy with 1. The sandwiches are driving me nuts.I wasn't 100% satisfied with my first shoot session.

So on Sunday afternoon, JM and I took another sandwich challenge - only, I made the sandwich. We wanted to experiment with the layout, angles, design - be comfortable around a sandwich (the weirdest thing I said today), and study how to make it all pretty.


I made it sit by itself, and then cut it in half and piled it on top of each..

... but it just ended up like this.

Curried Egg Sandwich

Ingredients
- 3 pcs hard boiled eggs
- 1 large red tomato, finely chopped
- 1 medium size red bell pepper (or green)
- garlic powder
- yellow curry powder
- about 2 Tbsp mayonaisse
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the bell pepper in half, remove the seeds, and grill it in the oven toaster for a few minutes, or until the skin is blistered. Remove from the oven toaster.
2. When the bell pepper has cooled down, remove the skin. Chopped finely.
3. In a bowl, chop the eggs finely with the use of a fork and knife.
4. Toss in tomatoes and bell pepper, mix well.
5. Sprinkle some garlic powder.
6. Add the curry powder. This will depend on how much you want the curry to taste. Be careful, too much curry will make you spread hot (potential ass-explosion).
7. Mix the mayo. If you feel that the mayo is too little, feel free to add more. I just don't like mayo that much in my dressings and spread. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste.

8. Serve with a toasted bread.

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Deep Fried Eggplant and Zucchini

Here's a great food idea for a healthy and easy to prepare finger food.

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1 zucchini
grated parmesan cheese
all-purpose flour
fine breadcrumbs
1 small beaten egg
salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash the eggplant and zucchini thoroughly.
2. Cut them in circles.
3. Mix the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.
4. Coat the zucchini and eggplants with a thin layer of all-purpose flour.
5. Dip each into a bowl of beaten egg.
6. Roll it in the parmesan and breadcrumbs mixture.
7. Heat (vegetable) oil in a deep frying pan and fry the vegetables until golden brown.
8. Blot it with a paper towel to remove excess oil.
9. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

I personally prefer no dip, but if you wish, it's perfect with mayo.

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Carrot Balls Rewind

The much awaited food shoot has finally come! I invited my friend to join me in my food photo experiment who's a newbie in photography hobby. It was fun to teach him basic stuff, and at the same time, to have another person, aside from my fiance, to showcase my home cooking haha!

I did 4 dishes, but not everything turned out grand in the photos. It wasn't that bad though. The food designing, angle experimenting, those are kinda new to me so learning was fun. I chose to cook my most wanted carrot balls (Mark loves it so much!) because I didn't get a nice picture of it the first time I made it.



This is the first time in many months that I cooked in the morning. But once again, I had to depend on my flash to give my food nice lighting because the sky won't just cooperate with me yesterday. It can't decide whether it wants to rain or it wants to shine - so it just stayed gray the entire time I was shooting. I want natural light!

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