My Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

If you have not yet tried your skills in making one of this Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, you are really missing out on it.  I have tried many recipes for the Cinnamon Rolls, yet after many hours of labor to be disappointed.  Those recipes turn out cinnamon rolls that are rather 'hard' after sitting an hour.  I highly recommend Alton Brown's Good Eats 2, The Middle Years, cookbook.  And I enjoy his insights to all the food science behind the ingredients.  One of the modification to the recipe that I do, however, I use sour cream instead of buttermilk.  Based on my experience with Ponchiks, I think the source cream is the key to keep cinnamon rolls pillowy soft after several hours and overnight.  The recipe come close to brioche style and that maybe the contributing factor to the soft tender crumbs it produces.

  

I like to use Ceylon Cinnamon instead also.

Tastes Way Better than the 'you know who's!'  ha, ha....

Gnocchi with Kale and Spinach

My next testing is with Kale powder and processed fresh spinach mixed in Gnocchi ingredients. 
The classic potato gnocchi can be found at:
https://www.yahoo.com/food/how-to-make-potato-gnocchi-111384959639.html

Ingredients for the Gnocchi:
2 Idaho potatoes  << I used 4 Golden Potatoes - boiled and peeled while warm
1 1/2 to 2 cups organic all-purpose flour
3 large organic eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (Choose your favorite: oregano, parsley, basil)
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons toasted bread crumbs
2 tablespoons Organic Kale Powder

Cut peeled potatoes into large chunks that would fit into Ricer.   Process all potatoes.  Combine potatoes with 1-1/2 C flour in a mixing bowl or on a work surface.  Forming a volcano and add one egg at a time and mix until well blended with flour and repeat with the rest of the egg.  Knead.  Rest for 15 minutes. .  The dough is slightly sticky.  Follow the rest of the instruction to portion the kneaded dough.  Roll into 1 inch diam ropes. Then, Cut into 1-inch pieces.  Place on a flour-dusted baking sheet and store in the freezer.  Or cook in a pot of boiling water.   When the Gnocchi float to the surface, cook one more minute.  Strain.
Mix in with sauce.  Heat through for a minute or two in the sauce, then, serve. 

  

 

Kale Power!! Kale Pandan Coconut Chiffon Cake

I found this bag of Organic Kale powder at COSTCO.  It got me curious to see if I can bake Chiffon cake just like with MATCHA tea powder.
This is my first testing with the Kale powder in cake ingredients, and there is a flaw in how I did it.  But if you are looking for the Pandan Coconut Chiffon Cake that I make, it can be found at the following link.

Basic cake ingredients can be found at Polly's Pandan Coconut Chiffon Cake from my blog 
http://rockdavinci.blogspot.com/2013/05/pollys-pandan-coconut-chiffon-cake.html
 For this recipe, I modified the recipe to include 2 Tablespoon of Kale powder pre-shifted with flour 3 to 4 times.   My problem is likely the result of missing egg yolks.  I had a bowl of left over egg whites from 4 eggs from making my favorite Cinnamon Rolls (from Alton Brown's recipe).  I thought adding 3 whole eggs (separated) would work out just the same.  The egg whites beat up beautifully to firm peak. But the cake turned out without much rise.  Caved inwards and up at the bottom of the cake pan.  Luckily the taste was not compromised.  It tastes good, but resulted in dense texture at the bottom.   I should have taken in account for the percentage of extra weight of powder mixed into 160 g of shifted flour.  I noticed this Organic Kale powder is super fine.  It absorbed the liquid in the egg batter quickly.  It probably caused the batter to be heavier than normal.  I should have used the correct egg counts, too.  Since my Chiffon cake recipe does not use baking powder, adding extra 1/2 Cup more sugar to make the meringue might have helped also.  

Here is my photo journal.

 Pandan juice, coconut milk, EVOO, Eggs, water, sugar.

 

I started to notice the problem during the meringue folding.  

 

Looks like the Meringue did not have a good support even though it formed a great looking firm peak.  

Not enough rise!!!

Dense looking yet feels light to my surprise.   I sliced the dense looking section off and served the fluffy section.
How is the taste?   Very good!  It has a very good balanced taste.  The bitter Kale taste is not present. 

This Kale Chiffon Cake is worth making again.

Fresh Home Grown Green Onions

I am a lazy garden farmer.  Sometimes those green onions I buy from the store upsets me.   I don't know what it is but they don't seem to last well in refrigerator.  So I replanted the root portion in my garden and here they are - healthy tasty green onions for my needs.  (Those big ones are replanted Leeks.)

Then I used it for my RAMEN and fried rice. 

FOOD REVOLUTION DAY!!!

Join Jamie Oliver and people around the world for Food Revolution Day!! Help Fight for Food Education for Every Child
Check out the Campaign information and how to get involved at http://www.foodrevolutionday.com/
Sign the Petition, Share the petition with your friends and your social network, and Do It.