Chinese Tea Eggs for Easter Monday

If you're looking for something to do on the last day of Easter, try these fun, family-friendly, healthy, and attractive tea eggs.

After seeing a post on TasteSpotting, I decided on a whim to make Chinese tea eggs for our family lunch on Easter Sunday. Though appropriate for an everyday snack, these tea eggs are novel enough (in New Zealand!), and decorative enough, to be perfect for this eggy Anglo holiday.* (Their spiderweb design would also make them great for Halloween, but one season at a time.)

The many recipes I saw online agreed largely on the spices I should use, but had a large variation in cooking times. These ranged from pre-boiling the eggs for 2 minutes and simmering for 20, to pre-boiling for 20 and simmering for several hours. So, instead of anxiously fretting about which recipe was 'right', I figured that it probably did not matter too much how long I cooked them for.

The method for making tea eggs is to hard boil eggs, crack the shell with the back of a teaspoon, return to simmer with black tea, star anise, cinnamon, szechuan peppercorns, soy sauce, tangerine or mandarin zest, and a bit of sugar, and leave to steep overnight to develop dark, intricate patterns over the hard boiled eggs.

As it was getting towards bed time on Saturday night already, I made a start.

Chinese Tea Eggs

Ingredients:

4 - 6 eggs (I started making four, before realizing I had miscounted potential lunch attendees and hastily boiling up another - which in the end was not required.)

2 star anise pods
2 T black tea (I used ginger infused tea)
2 T gluten-free tamari (or, if you can, 1T soy sauce and 1T dark soy sauce, which will probably give a deeper flavour)
1 T black peppercorns (or szechuan peppercorns if you have them)
1 t brown sugar
1/2 t cinnamon (or a whole piece of cinnamon bark if you have one)
tangerine or mandarin zest (which I didn't have, so I left out)


Method:

Place eggs in a small to medium pot, and cover with cold water.

Bring to the boil and simmer for up to ten minutes.

Retaining boiling water, remove eggs and rinse under cold water, until cool enough to handle. Don't skip this step, especially if you're about to hand the eggs over to young children to crack!

With the back of a teaspoon, crack the shells of the eggs, without removing the shell - this will create your spiderweb patterns on the eggs.

Return the eggs to the water, with the other ingredients, and simmer for about an hour. Watch to make sure your pot doesn't boil dry, though - add more water if necessary.

Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep overnight, or for as many hours as you can allow.

Eat cold by itself or with your condiment of choice. These have a very mild, savoury flavour.

We served the tea eggs as part of a delicious lunch spread that my mum, sister, and I pulled together with little to no planning, including inventing a recipe for corn and oat patties - yum!




I didn't actually write down the recipe - we were really just throwing stuff in until it felt right. They contained: a (~400g) can of creamed corn; 2 eggs; about a teaspoon of baking powder; about a quarter cup of corn meal, and probably about one and a half cups of oat flour - I ground two cups of rolled oats, then used not quite all of that. Also pepper and salt. The 'batter' was quite wet and soft, and we spooned it into the frypan, but once fried the bottom was crispy and held together.

I love taking picture's with the back yard in the background. Oh the childhood memories!




All in all, a great Easter lunch!

~~~

* with the exception of a pack of lindt peanut butter eggs a month or so before Easter, we haven't bought any Easter eggs this year. This is only because after that first packet, we couldn't find any more of those delicious delicious peanut butter eggs.

Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse

Vegan Chocolate Mousse - with what I call "midnight snack" lighting... ^_^



One of my favourite time wasters fillers is to browse through TasteSpotting, 'starring' recipes that I want to adapt or try to make. Recently, there was a yummy-looking post for chocolate mousse made with silken tofu. Despite an interest in vegan cooking, I'd never really used silken tofu in desserts before. I usually use firm tofu in stir fries, and once used silken tofu in place of paneer in a curry, but never as a dairy alternative in desserts...

The recipe looked easy, was described as decadent and 'you would never know there's tofu in it', and would meet my recent craving for dessert, but with fewer unnecessary calories... However, it must be warned that this is not for the mild sweet tooth - this is probably the richest chocolate mousse I have ever had in the sense of chocolatey sweetness. You could tone it down a notch by leaving out some of the additional cocoa and sugar, and I don't think it would suffer for it. I served mine with banana, which actually cut through the sweetness!

The recipe I was following is here. I made a few minor adaptations to the recipe to suit what I had on hand, and translated to metric. Here's my version:



Spoon full of chocolate...



Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

300g silken tofu
100g dark chocolate (I used 80% - check chocolate is dairy free)
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c water
1 Tbsp rice milk (or other non dairy milk)
2 Tbsp butterscotch schnapps*
1/2 c sugar


* actually I assume this is vegan! The prenzel website doesn't say (link). I used this instead of port or brandy, so use whatever you are comfortable with.


Instructions

Blend silken tofu in a food processor or blender until completely smooth.

In a bowl on top of a pot of barely simmering water, mix chocolate, cocoa, water, milk, and schnapps, and stir until the chocolate has completely melted.

Remove from heat and add the sugar. Mix until smooth and sugar has dissolved.

Pour or spoon into serving bowls, and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Serve with your choice of chopped fruit, vegan cream, as is, or whatever tickles your fancy.

Try not to fall into a sugar coma :)

A Journey in Waffles

Waffles. Love 'em or hate 'em... Just kidding, I'm not going to start off like that, though my personal waffle history is one of both love and hate.

My family was never a waffle family. Waffles seem to be a particularly American thing: wikipedia support this view. For cooked breakfasts, we would have varieties on pancakes. Thin crepes with lemon juice and brown sugar, golden syrup or treacle, or, occasionally, maple syrup. Pikelets with butter, honey, or whipped cream and jam. The closest we had to waffles as children would have been from the Dutch side my my family: Stroopwafels, or "stroopies" as we called them. And they're not really waffles - they're biscuits.

I was first exposed to waffles as a teenager, when after sleeping over at a friend’s house she pulled out a waffle iron and whipped up a batch. I was fascinated by the waffle-making contraption, and it's fancy pattern (Scandinavian heart shaped waffles, from memory). They seemed easier and so much more exciting than pancakes. But not having waffles in my blood, I soon forgot about their exotic allure.

Flash forward about ten years, when I bought a 3-in-1 toasted sandwich maker, waffle iron, and grill. I only needed a toastie-maker, but this one was cheap! And multi-functional! I eventually remembered my initial excitement for waffles, and though disappointed that my waffle iron was in the relatively boring Belgian style, I decided to try to make waffles for myself.

I chose a recipe from the instruction manual: there were a few, but the one I chose was of an unleavened 'thin and crispy' variety. It looked simple, a good place to start. The recipe included cream. That made it sound fancy, and 'special'. But, I found it bland in texture, and far too rich and heavy in fat for my tastes. I should have expected it - I could never eat cream without feeling ill. Entirely unimpressed, I packed the waffle-iron plates away and stuck to toasted sandwiches.

Flash forward again - perhaps 5 years and a switch to gluten-free - to this week. I was flipping through the Healthy Food Guide looking for menu plan ideas, and came across a recipe for gluten-free waffles. The idea lingered in my mind: Waffles! I made them for brunch the next day.

As with my first cream-laden attempt, I should have known by looking at this recipe that they would be no good. My limited experience with gluten-free flour blends should have tipped me off to the idea that three ingredients alone - white rice flour, water/milk, and salt - would not make a good waffle. I thought at least that a waffle recipe should have eggs or baking powder in it - but I’ve never successfully made waffles, so how would I know?

As soon as I stirred the mix, I knew it was a mistake. The batter was pure white, as starchy mixes are, and the texture was too smooth. I persevered, but what came out of the waffle-maker was a thick, solid, unappetising gum. I ate it. Why? I was hungry, and my very last effort had gone into making those waffles. It was my penance for not recognising a bad recipe. I hate to waste food.



Bad Waffles



The offending waffles. I won't replicate the recipe here, for obvious reasons. While it's great that the Healthy Food Guide are starting to recognise and cater for people who eat gluten-free, I have given them honest feedback on this specific recipe.

Luckily, the internet is a wonderful resource for gluten-free eating, and a quick search brought up more options that looked much more promising. This morning I rolled up my sleeves, put on a my flour-dusted apron, and got to the business of making a decent waffle.

I settled on a recipe from Gluten Free Cooking School. I needed a recipe using flours that I had in my pantry, and though many good gluten-free recipes I see from the US contain sorghum and teff flour, I have never seen these in New Zealand. I follow the Gluten Free Cooking School blog, so I trusted that this recipe would be pretty good. Also, it looked right.



Good Waffles



Here is a link to the original recipe: Gluten Free Waffles. Despite having all the ingredients in general, I didn't quite have the right amounts, so tinkered with the recipe to suit: mostly the flour mix used. My version is published below.

If you have access to 'fancy' flours, you could also try these tempting recipes:

Gluten-free Girl's Waffles
Cinnamon Mochi Waffles on the Daily Dietribe


Gluten Free Waffles

Makes about 7 waffles.


Gluten Free Flour Mix

1 part brown rice flour
1 part ground millet
1 part white rice flour
2 parts corn starch
1 part fine cornmeal
2 parts soy flour
1 part masa de mais (masa harina)

If you treat each 'part' as a quarter cup, you will have about a half-cup more flour mix than you need for this recipe.

Gluten Free Cooking School's original all-purpose flour blend is here, if you prefer. As I only had 1/4 cup of brown rice flour, the ground millet and white rice flour were added as substitutes. Cornmeal substituted some of the corn starch (cornflour in NZ), just in case the white rice flour had increased the starch content too much. I assumed that my masa de mais (for corn tortillas) was masa harina, but you never know.


Ingredients

1 3/4 cups gluten free flour mix
1 Tbsp* gluten free baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups dairy or non-dairy milk
70 g butter, melted*
1/2 cup canola oil

Canola oil spray, for waffle iron.

* In New Zealand, a tablespoon is 15ml, though I understand that elsewhere it is 20ml. I don't think it matters in this case.

* The original recipe called for 230 g butter, and no oil. I only had 70 g butter, and when used oil to top-up I realised that this is a LOT of fat: feel free to use much less butter and/or oil to taste. I would recommend perhaps 1/2 cup / 100 g fat if you want a tasty but slightly lighter version. Also, I am constantly using this butter converter, because butter should be measured in grams, not tablespoons or sticks or cups, thankyouverymuch!


Instructions

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Whisk eggs until frothy, and mix in milk.

Add melted butter and oil slowly and whisk.

Add wet ingredients to dry, and mix until large lumps are gone.

Heat waffle iron, and spray with a bit of canola oil to prevent sticking.

Pour about a half cup of batter into the waffle iron (adapt to size of iron).

Cook to the instructions of your waffle iron, or by instinct if you prefer.


When cooked, serve hot with your choice of delicious toppings. I had mine with banana and maple syrup, and a bit of cinnamon sugar. They were divine - soft, fluffy, tasty, crispy on the outside.


Topped Waffles




Fluffy Waffles



As this recipe made heaps of waffles, I froze some for Ron. You know - 'ron - Later'on - Well my dad used to say this and I alwasy thought it was hilarious, and apparently still do.

To freeze waffles, cool first on a wire rack, separate each waffle with a piece of wax paper, and freeze in freezer bags. Apparently, these heat well in the toaster for a super-quick breakfast.


Waffles for 'Ron




Holey Waffles




Waffles to Freeze



And on that note, stay safe, well, and happy. In New Zealand, we're still reeling from the February 22 quake in Christchurch, so our thoughts are with those in Japan and the Pacific affected by yesterday's 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis.

Instant Polenta is the new couscous

Instant polenta is the new couscous.

Back about a year ago, I was eating a lot of couscous. This was just before I cut gluten out of my diet. It was the ultimate easy lunch food - pour boiling water over it and stand while you heat up some baked beans.

I was a bit sad to lose that particular convenience.

I don't believe it took me so long to try instant polenta. I'd made polenta a few times from scratch, but stirring for 20 minutes is at the upper end of intensive for me. Recently, as in within the last week, I bought some instant polenta and gave it a go.

I didn't expect it to be so easy. Pour into boiling water with some seasonings, and stir until thick - about 3 minutes. Pour onto a plate to set. I could make this at work!!! It's ridiculous!


Instant Polenta

1 c water
62.5 g instant polenta
dash of salt

smoked herb salt mix (or other favourite seasoning)
fancy extra virgin olive oil

Boil the water and put in a pot (or boil it in the pot!). Pour instant polenta into the pot, stirring as you do so. Add the salt. Keep stirring until thick. Pour or spread onto a plate and let set.

Sprinkle seasoned salt liberally over the top, and drizzle with some nice olive oil. You could eat it as is, look at it:


Instant polenta with smoked salt and olive oil


I served this one a few days ago with fried eggs on top. Today I had it with baked beans, in a fit of too-lazy-to-cook, and with a nod back to my baked beans on couscous days.

Maple Mustard Brussells Sprouts

A few weeks ago at the markets, I spied a bag of brussells sprouts, and thought - hey, why not attempt to cook the world's most hated vegetable?

Actually, to be honest, I've never particularly disliked brussells sprouts. I've had some so-so ones that tasted a little strange, but I've also had ones that almost melted in my mouth in a cluster of texturey goodness. Mmm!

Arriving home with my stash, I thought of ways to cook the sprouts. I had seen a few recipes for roasted sprouts, and I seemed to remember seeing a recipe pairing brussells sprouts and maple syrup. I used the trusty Internet to find myself a few recipes, many of them for maple mustard sprouts. Using a couple of recipes as a basis for experimentation, I pulled out the gas burner and heated up the wok...

The results were yummy. And so they should be - I almost finished our bottle of maple syrup. Our little 237ml (8 fl.oz.) bottle of maple syrup, that cost $20 to replace. Why so expensive? Well, Neil says it's organic and tapped by naked virgins.

Ridiculously expensive maple syrup aside, here's a sort of vague recipe-ish type thing!:


Maple Mustard Brussells Sprouts



Maple Mustard Brussells Sprouts

Ingredients

a generous amount of olive oil and butter
brussells sprouts, trimmed and halved, or quartered if large
a generous spoon of dijon mustard
about a quarter cup of maple syrup
a tablespoon or so of apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper

Method

Heat the oil and butter in a wok.



Brown the sprouts for a few minutes on each side, adding salt and pepper.



Mix the mustard, maple syrup, and cider vinegar, add to the wok, and cook, tossing often, until the sprouts are cooked through and the sauce sticks to the sprouts.

Serve, eat, and savour.

Menu Planning: Kumara Rosti, Fried Haloumi, and Garlic Greens

I've started menu planning. Or should I say, I've started menu planning again, as I was planning weekly a few months ago. Everything stops when I get stressed or busy, and plans go unmade or out the kitchen window.

This time, I've decided to try a monthly menu plan following a vague set pattern based on the carb component of the meal, which currently looks something like this:

Mon - Pasta/Noodles
Tues - Rice/Quinoa
Wed - Tortilla/Taco/Nachos
Thurs - Eat out
Fri - Pizza
Sat - Potato/Kumara
Sun - ??? + Baking

At the start of each month, I'll sit down and map out ideas for how to serve these things in a slightly different way each week, and at the start of each week I'll figure out the specifics of what dishes or recipes to make, and what veggies I need to pick up at the markets for the week. Well, that's the plan. I've cooked like this for one week so far, and have planned for the next! Obviously, flexibility for other activities or anticipated laziness is required. I can just shift a meal left or right a day. We don't eat out every week, and Sunday is also free to pick up any extra meals I couldn't be bothered making throughout the week.

Last week, my most adventurous dish was Kumara Rosti with Fried Haloumi and Garlic Greens. All of these were new to me: The greens and the haloumi were self evident, but I consulted a potato rosti recipe that I'd had my eye on for some time (in one of my favourite cookbooks: Vegie Food). Essentially - I substituted kumara for the potato without thinking about it, but that didn't seem to work. Perhaps it was a difference in sugar or water content of kumara compared to potato, perhaps it was equipment, luck, or let's face it, talent (or lack thereof), but what I got was not rosti. It was more like kumara mash or scramble. It tasted fantastic, but rosti it was not.

I bought these greens from the markets, not knowing what they were:


Mystery Greens


I asked the seller what it was, and he just said "it's like bok choi", which was only vaguely helpful.


Kumara



Rosti ingredients all together


The rosti was supposed to cook for 8 minutes on a medium to low heat, until golden and crispy. After that time, nothing seemed to be happening. After a second 8 minutes on an even higher heat, the kumara seemed to be steaming. Another 8 minutes, at an even higher temperature, and still little had changed. Eight more minutes (a total of 32 minutes), and it seemed to finally be browning slightly at the edges. It turns out, though, that this may have been a problem of heat distribution:


Rosti Fail


I also had a bit of trouble estimating the amount of greens required:


Overfilled wok


Luckily, this all reduced down to a manageable amount after flipping it around with tongs for a while. Time to fry the haloumi:


Cheeeeesy


In the end I got there, and served up the rosti, haloumi, and greens:


Dinner, served!


Anyway, at the end of this journey, I can give you some recipes!

Kumara Scramble:

Ingredients
800g kumara, peeled
Finely chopped onion
Fresh or dried herbs (eg. parsley, mixed herbs)
Butter and/or olive oil - a generous amount for frying.

Method
If your kumara are large (mine was a single one weighing 800g!), cut into potato-sized pieces. Boil for 10-15 minutes or until they start to soften. Once at a manageable temperature, grate the kumara, and mix with the onion and herbs. Season. Heat butter and/or olive oil in a non-stick frypan. Fry the kumera on a medium-high heat until fully cooked and browned in places. You may either attempt to make small rosti, or just mix it all up and treat as a scramble.


Garlic greens:

Ingredients
Mix of favourite greens - I used bok choi, broccolini, and some random pale green vegetable.
Huge spoon of garlic - as much as you dare
olive (or other) oil. (I also used some butter - but I think it would have been better without)

Method
Heat oil in a wok and cook garlic for a short time until starting to brown. Add greens and fry until cooked. Don't be like me and assume that all greens cook in no time, or they will be tough and unpleasant. Cook your greens properly!

Serve with your choice of protein, for example fried haloumi OR baked tofu (such as this yummy herbed lemon tofu).