Homemade Almond Croissants

 

How to turn a Costco croissant into an almond croissant?  It was fairly easy actually and can save a almond croissant lover a ton of money by doing it at home.  All you need is almond flour and almond extract, and the rest of the ingredients you would probably have it at home. 

All you need to do is to make a simple frangipane and air-fry the croissant in the air fryer at 350'F for 5 minutes. 

Frangipane

1 large egg

1/2 cup almond flour 

1/4 cup cane sugar

1/2 stick or 4 Tbsp. Unsalted butter, soften

1/2 tsp. Almond extract 

1/4 tsp. Himalayan rock salt

Methods 

1.  Whisk egg, butter, sugar, almond extract, and salt together.   Then, add almond flour and whisk together into a paste.

2.  Cut the Costco's croissant into half and spread the paste inside.  Top the croissant with some more paste and sprinkle sliced almond on top.

3.  Air-fry in the air fryer at 350'F for 5 minutes.   Serve!

Stir-fried Baby Cauliflower

I found this baby cauliflower at Trader's Joe the other day and decided to give it a try.  Believe it or not,  I had never tasted it before and was really curious about how it tasted like.

When presented with some thing that I had never cooked before,  I decided to make it vegetarian and simple.  Baby cauliflower is not bad at all, it will widen my vegetable selection for our palates. 

 Ingredients:

1 bag of baby cauliflower from Trader's Joe,  wash and cut it like the above pictures 

1/2 block of organic firm tofu, cut, pat dry, and air-fry for 15 minutes at 400'F.  Set aside.

1 organic carrot, sliced

3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped 

Chinese rice wine

Oyster sauce/ vegetarian oyster sauce

1/4 tsp. mushrooms powder 

Methods:

1.  Heat up wok, when heated, add in olive oil.  Add garlic, and stir-fry until lightly golden and add carrot and baby cauliflower.  Mix well.

2.  Add Chinese rice wine, fry well.  Add some water and cover the wok to let the vegetable soften.

3.  When soften, add in fried tofu, mix well.  Add in oyster sauce to taste and 1/4 tsp. of mushrooms powder.  Mix well and serve hot.  Enjoy!

Air-fryer Sesame Balls

I remembered the sesame balls that I used to have in Malaysia while I was young was filled with ground peanut filling.  After I moved to the US, the ones that I had were filled with mung bean paste or red bean paste.  Even to these days, I have not seen one that's filled with peanut filling, and I missed that.

Then, while browsing my Facebook page, I saw a video clip about an air-fryer sesame balls recipe that caught my attention.  An easier way to make this without the oil and heat while deep-frying sounded just perfect for me.  Furthermore,  by making it myself I can fill it with whatever filling I desired.   So, without further hesitation, let's get working.  I made my own peanut filling by grounding some toasted peanuts and sweeten coconut flakes in a food processor and then added some cane sugar and toasted sesame seeds.  Mixed well to be used as filling.  Sorry, no measurement here as I just eye balling with what I had in my pantry.

Ingredients:

1/8 cup + 1 Tbsp. White cane sugar

175ml warm water

200g glutinous flour

Filling of your choice

Sesame seeds, to suit

Method:

1.  In a bowl, dissolved sugar into the warm water.  Set aside.

2.  In another bigger bowl, add in the glutinous rice flour and pour in the sugar water mixture.  Mix and knead until a soft dough is formed.  You can add more water or glutinous flour to adjust the consistency. 

3.  Then, pinch a piece of the dough, shape into ball and flatten it and wrap the filling inside inside and close it.  Coat the balls with sesame seeds completely. 

4.  Place the sesame balls into the deep-fryer and spray with oil.  Air-fry at 370'F for 10 minutes. Open the air-fryer, and flip to the other side, spray with oil and air-fry for another 10 minutes at the same temperature. 

5.  When it is done,  don't open the air-fryer just yet,  let it sit in there for 5 minutes before open.  Otherwise,  it might cracks.  Then, serve warm!

NOTE 1: It got harden when its cold.  So, air-fry leftover at 330'F for 4 minutes.  Serve immediately. 

NOTE 2:  I still prefer it deep-fried.  Texture wise is better.

Steamed Boneless Chicken Thighs with Cordyceps and Goji berries

I saw this recipe somewhere and decided to give it a try.   Since I have cordyceps at home and I only knew how to cook soup with it,  I was glad to have found another way of cooking it. 

I have seasoned the chicken thighs to my liking and steamed it for 25 minutes.  I was pleased as it was delicious!

CNY dessert

Tang Yuan in red bean dessert soup signified "团团圆圆".

 

Steamed radish cake signified "好彩头"

Pan-fried version.  The other version is healthier without the oil.  I actually preferred it without pan-frying as it tasted nicer as it was soft and yummy.

Recipe:  https://belachan2.blogspot.com/2016/06/steamed-radish-cake.html?m=1

I always go back to my own trusted recipe that I have been using years after years. 

Chinese Lunar New Year 2023

Buddha Casserole with added ingredients 

                                    CNY Meal

 

Braised abalone with pork belly 

 

Yu seng

Homemade vegetarian version 

         Deep-fried chicken beancurd rolls

            Nian gao signified "年年高升"

                          Baby bok choy

                      Stir-fried jicama

Chinese sausage and cured pork belly sticky rice signified family always stick together. 

Portuguese egg custard tarts from Costco 

                                   CNY goodies