YEAR 2017 MOCHI MAKING JOURNAL

Ever wanted to pound your own MOCHI to make that fluffy tasty round DAIFUKU MOCHI?
This will be my second time to try my hand on MOCHI-ZUKI (pound MOCHI at home). 
Here is my Photo Journal.
After soaking GLUTINOUS THAI RICE for several hours, sweet rice is steamed at high till cooked.
Then, they are added to my commercial size cake mixer bowl to be 'kneaded' into MOCHI.
Try it! using your smaller cake mixer - it works!

 I want to add YOMOGI - Mugworts plants into my MOCHI.  It adds color and make my MOCHI healthy treats.  (Rehydrating YOMOGI in warm water.)
Red Bean Paste Prep work:  Make your own Red Bean paste, if you have the time.  Otherwise, canned red bean pastes are heated in a pot till hot to allow moisture to dry up.  When the red bean pastes are thick.  Remove from heat and let it cool completely before using.

Hmmm... this is softer than I wanted.  I think the sweet rice was not cooked long enough.
Better job next year!

 Spread 'POTATO' starch - Japanese KATAKURIKO all over the baking sheet.
Transfer the pounded MOCHI and cover with KATAKURIKO.

Polly's Morning Matcha Pecan Biscuits on the Go

Great Happy Rooster Year 2017!!
We made thru many years of great food blogging thanks to Google Blogger app.  I hope Google will continue to support the app.  I sure miss the direct upload from PICASA, however.  Google+ is a 'chicken'.
But year 2017 is no chicken.   We are all up and ready to go every morning tackling great weather of rainy seasons that we were missing in California at least for 30 years.  There were some great rain 14 years ago, but nothing like we are experiencing the last few months.
In the morning, when I bake, I promised myself to add a bit more nutritious ingredients to make every bite counts.
So, I came up with Polly's Matcha Pecan Biscuits.

Ingredients:            Preheat oven to 425'F        
Make 8 to 12 depending on the size of the biscuit butter you use and how thick the biscuits you want - I will leave it up to you.

1-1/2 C shifted Bob's Red Mill Unbleached Pastry Flour
1/2 C shifted Bob's Red Mill Unbleached Cake Flour
1 Tbsp Non-GMO Baking Powder without Aluminum
1 Scant Tbsp Matcha - Green Tea in Powder - but not one of those "smoothie" green tea 'flavored' mix with food color and all the artificial stuff.
Pinch Kosher Salt
3/4 of 4 oz Stick Butter cut into chunks
3 Tbsp Daisy's Sour Cream
 3 Tbsp Organic cane sugar
1/3 C Chopped Pecan
1 Tbsp Ground Flax Seed
Cold Organic milk -  1/2 C or by Visual - enough to 'Moisten' the flour mixture - not dry, not wet.

Shift All flour together and remeasure 2 Cups into a mixing bowl.
Add baking powder, Matcha, and salt and shift or using a whisk to mix well.
Slice 3/4 of a stick of butter into a Tablespoon slice.  Then, flip them over and slice into thirds.  Repeat it crosswise to end with small cubes.
Toss into flour.  Using fingers, toss butter chunks and flour together. Smash butter between fingers.  Note:  this is a "Free" form smashing.  Just Keep All Butter in Large flat / chunky form - NOT in mill form or pea size or whatever else you learnt, but smash it 'flat' between fingers.  You should see smashed/some still in squashed chunks in the bowl.
Add Ground Flax seed.
Add sour cream and Toss around to mix in with hand.
Add some cold milk.  Mix to pick up the dry flour at the bottom of the bowl and form a shaggy dough.  Add a bit more milk if the dry flour at the bottom of the bowl would not stick to the ball of dough.
Add chopped pecan.  Mix.  Add more milk to dry parts of the mixture to allow absorption.  Mix gently with hand to 'incorporate'.
Handling the dough gently, bring dough together into a shaggy BALL.
Transfer to slightly floured work surface (flour from the other half cup of flour)
Fold the dough over each other and give a couple of kneading down about 10 times - end result is a fat disc ready to be rolled out.
Using a rolling stick, roll out the dough gently to the thickness of your liking for your biscuit to be - Remembering that it would rise at least 1/2 inch.
Using a biscuit cutter, cut out the dough and place on a small baking sheet.
Based on the thickness and size of the biscuit ring/cutter you use, there should be enough biscuits to serve 3 people 2 biscuits each or for 4 people.
I just use the small toaster oven's baking sheet.
Bake till golden.
Serve with family's favorite eggs and grilled bacon, etc.

 Ah.,... this is bit too much milk than usual.   Do not make the dough too wet like this.

 Need to add some more flour to rescue.

Tasty Soft and Fluffy Sour Cream Biscuits for Breakfast

We enjoyed a tasty breakfast yesterday with this biscuits.
Try it and let me know how it goes with your batch.

Ingredients:            Preheat oven to 425'F         Make 7 to 8
1-1/2 C shifted Bob's Red Mill Unbleached Pastry Flour
1/2 C shifted Bob's Red Mill Unbleached Cake Flour
1 Tbsp Non-GMO Baking Powder without Aluminum
Pinch Kosher Salt
3/4 of 4 oz Stick Butter cut into chunks
3 Tbsp Daisy's Sour Cream
1 Tbsp Organic cane sugar
Cold Organic milk - 2 to 3 Tbsp (add more as needed Tablespoon at a time)

Shift All flour together and remeasure 2 Cups into a mixing bowl.
Add baking powder and salt and shift or using a whisk to mix well.
Slice 3/4 of a stick of butter into a Tablespoon slice.  Then, flip them over and slice into thirds.  Repeat it crosswise to end with small cubes.
Toss into flour.  Using fingers, toss butter chunks and flour together. Smash butter between fingers.  Note:  this is a "Free" form smashing.  Just Keep All Butter in Large flat or chunky form.
Add sour cream and Toss around to mix in with hand.
Add 2 Tbsp of milk.  Mix to pick up the dry flour at the bottom of the bowl and form a shaggy dough.  Add a bit more milk if the dry flour at the bottom of the bowl would not stick to the ball of dough.  (Add more milk if needed.  The dough should not be 'dry' but very well moistened, but not 'wet'.)
Handling the dough gently, bring dough together into a shaggy BALL.
Transfer to slightly floured work surface.
Fold the dough over each other and give a couple of kneading down - end result is a fat disc ready to be rolled out.
Using a rolling stick, roll out the dough gently to the thickness of your liking for your biscuit to be - Remembering that it would rise at least 1/2 inch.
Using a biscuit cutter, cut out the dough and place on a small baking sheet.
Based on the thickness and size of the biscuit ring/cutter you use, there should be enough biscuits to serve 3 people 2 biscuits each or for 4 people.
I just used the small toaster oven's baking sheet.
Bake till golden.
Serve with family's favorite eggs and grilled bacon, etc.

 Some speckles appeared on the biscuits could indicate that maybe too much baking powder.  Since backing with adding sour cream is my first time, I did not want to take the chance of a dense biscuits.  Two teaspoons of baking powder maybe enough.  And normally, when you are baking with acidic ingredients, you would add baking soda, but I just dislike the taste of baking soda sometimes I can detect.

 The crumb is tender and light.

 My grandchildren enjoyed them very much. 

Eggnog Biscuits - If you have not tried baking biscuits with Eggnog during the holiday season - you should.  Of course, there are so many "junks" they put in a pint of eggnog you purchase from the store, but if you have a left over, it's an optional adventure in trying it.  Even better would be to use leftover of homemade eggnog.