Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Muffins, muffins, muffins! It’s time for another marvelous muffin recipe. Last week, I had a bunch of bananas that were going brown and was thinking about making some lovely banana bread, but the Simmering Seoulmate had a hankering for muffins. So, we decided to make oatmeal banana muffins. I’ve got quite a sweet tooth, so I incorporated some chocolate chips. You can customized this recipe to suit your preferences by omitting the chocolate or by adding add other types of chocolate chips, such as peanut butter chips, or even add some nuts or berries. These delightful treats make a great mid afternoon snack or a quick and easy breakfast. I like to eat them warmed up with a bit of butter on chilly mornings with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 ̊ F or 190 ̊ C. In a large bowl stir together all of your dry ingredients, with the exception of the chocolate chips. In a smaller bowl, combine vanilla, butter, eggs, and bananas. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix until all the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into greased muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed clean. Let cool on a wire rack.

Makes 15 muffins.

Kitchen Tricks: Pomegranate Seeds

Oh boy, do I love eating pomegranate. However, it can be a super pain just thinking of how much effort goes into being able to eat these delicious seeds. I’m going to share with you how I remove those seeds quickly and easily.

Step 1: Score a line with a knife along the equator of the pomegranate, as if you were going to cut the fruit in half. 

Step 2: Use your fingers to pull the pomegranate in half, by placing them along the scored line and pulling in opposite directions.

Step 3: Loosen the seeds by gently pulling on the edges all the way around each half.

Step 4: Place one half of the fruit in your hand, with the seeds facing your palm. Hold your hand over a large bowl filled with water.

Step 5: Smack the outer skin of the fruit with a wooden spoon and watch as the seeds fall. If any of the pulp falls it will float to the top of the water so you can easily remove it.

Step 6: Drain your seeds and enjoy!

If you want to save some seeds for awhile you can freeze them, by placing them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, pour into a zippered freezer bag. I hope this post was helpful. If you have any tips about removing pomegranate seeds share them in the comment section below. If you missed my last kitchen trick check it out here.

Salted Caramel Apple Cookie Cups

Here is another delicious apple recipe. This time it’s a sweet and savory treat for those colder afternoons. I have been looking for excuses to use my favorite treat from HomePlus, salted caramel sauce, so I combined them with my other favorite thing, homemade cookies. Check out the recipe below!

Salted Caramel Apple Cookie Cups (Adapted from Life, Love& Sugar)

Cookie Cups
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Topping
1/2 jar of salted caramel sauce
2 large apples
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
pinch of nutmeg

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush some canola oil over the muffin tin to grease the pan or spray with cooking spray if you have it. Cream together butter and sugars with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Make balls out of about 2 tbsp of dough and press into the bottom and up the sides of each muffin cup. Bake for about 10 minutes. After you remove them from the oven, use a spoon to push down the middles of the cookies reforming the cup shape. Place back into the oven for 3-5 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Once the cookie cups have cooled spread about a tbsp of salted caramel sauce into each cookie cup. Set aside. Cut apples into small chunks leaving skin on. Place in a pan with sugar and nutmeg and toss to coat. Add butter and cook on medium for 10 minutes. Top cookies cups with apple and drizzle with more of the salted caramel sauce.

Makes 15 cookies cups.

White Wine Sangria - Party Sized!

For summer vacation, I went home to Canada for the week. The weather was cooler than Seoul, but it was a refreshing break from the heat. My mom and dad threw me a lovely barbeque filled with food, friends, and fun. I thought it would be nice to make a classic summer drink to enjoy, so I took advantage of the Ontario fresh fruits and whipped up a HUGE party sized white wine sangria.

Fresh veggies from my parents garden!

A delicious artichoke and cream cheese dip.

Ingredients

2 bottles of dry white wine 1 bottle of sparkling dry white wine
2-3 cans of soda water
1 lemon
1 lime
1 peach
1 pear
1 granny smith apple
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup strawberries

Cut all of your fruit into slices or small chunks and throw into a large pitcher. Pour one bottle of white wine, sparkling wine, and one can of soda water over top. As you drink the sangria add in more soda water and the remaining bottle of white wine. Don’t forget to enjoy the delicious liquor soaked fruit!

This recipe made enough sangria for about 8 people to have 3 to 4 glasses of it and there were still leftovers!

Fruit Infused Water

Apologies for the lack of posts recently. I went home to Canada for my summer vacation and had a busy week back in Seoul following that. The hot summer temperatures continue in Seoul and boy is it humid! Just last week the weather report indicated that it would be 32 degrees and 97% humidity.What IS that!!! With it being so hot, I've tried to increase my water intake. Our school has lots of water coolers for me to refill my bottle daily, but I've haven’t been doing such a great job.

Last year, a friend of mine showed me her CitrusZinger and I was intrigued. It’s a water bottle that essentially has a citrus juicer built into the bottle. All you have to do is pop a lemon or any other citrus fruit inside the bottom and fill it with water. The Simmering Seoulmate had noticed that I was interested and got her to pick one up for him. He surprised me with it and I've been using it ever since. I mostly use it with lemons, but recently I've been using grapefruits and WOW is it good!

I've wanted to increase my water intake at home as well, so I made some fruit infused water in a jug. I made it with nectarines, sliced blueberries and of course grapefruit. All you have to do is fill a large pitcher half full with ice. Then, add about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of your desired fruit and fill with water. Leave in the refrigerator for a couple of hours and enjoy.

Drink Up!

4 Easy Vodka Cocktails

Summer is now in full swing, and with that comes hot weather and outdoor events. What better way to keep cool than to have a fancy cocktail? I whipped up four vodka based drinks for you to try at your next brunch, BBQ, or party. Don’t worry, all of these drinks are super easy and quick to make.

Sparkling water is so nice sometimes. It’s refreshing and makes you feel like you are drinking something fancier than just plain old water. Perrier is my go to sparkling water at home in Canada and although it is available in Korea, there is a Korean alternative called Trevi. It’s much cheaper and comes in lemon or lime flavours, and the original unflavoured version. I like to use sparkling water in many of my cocktails as an alternative to sugary juices or pops. For the first drink which is perfect for any brunch, I made this classic morning punch. All you need is some leftover wine (I know, I know, who am I kidding, who has leftover wine?), orange juice, some sparking water, and a glass! This is an easy way to elevate any weekend brunch and goes perfectly with all your breakfast food essentials.

Orange Spritzer
1 part white wine (I used Chardonnay)
1 part orange juice
splash of sparkling water
* The size of the glass you are using will depend on your exact measurements.*

Fill just under half of a glass with orange juice and then add the same amount of wine. Fill the remaining space of your glass with a splash of sparkling water. Feel free to add more or less of any of the three ingredients, and enjoy!

Grapefruits are readily available here in Seoul and I’m loving it! I've kept my fridge stocked with them for the past couple of weeks. Recently, I have been infusing my daily water with grapefruits and was surprised at how much better it tastes than your classic lemon water. This inspired me to make a nice refreshing cocktail. If you enjoy citrus drinks that aren't too sweet, than this one is for you. This is a guilt free (almost) drink for your next cocktail party or summer BBQ!

Grapefruit Fizz
1/2 large grapefruit
sparkling water (I used lime flavoured Trevi)
1 shot of vodka
ice cubes

Fill a glass with ice. Pour in 1 shot of vodka. Squeeze the juice from half of a grapefruit into the glass. Top with sparkling water and give it a stir. Sip and enjoy!

 One of my favourite fruits is peaches. Unfortunately, the Asian variety of peaches that can be found here in Korea, aren’t quite the same as the juicy, fall-off-the-pit, ones back home in Canada. Luckily, they do have nectarines, which are a close second to peaches. I decided to make a blended drink, because who doesn't like a slushy on a hot day? This drink had the right amount of sweetness from the nectarine and when blended with ice it was a real treat!  

Naughty Nectarine
1 nectarine
1/2 shot triple sec
1 shot vodka
1/2 cup of ice

Cut your nectarine into about 6-8 wedges and peel the skin off. Add your ice, vodka, and triple sec to the bender. Add your cut and peeled nectarines and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and dream of paradise!

Lemon blueberry is a delightful flavour combination. The muffins I made turned out great, so why not add that combination to a drink!? This drink is quite tart and because I’m not really a fan of sweet drinks, it was one of my favourites. However, if you are someone who enjoys sweeter drinks then I’m sure you could add some simple syrup or lemonade instead of sparkling water.

Blueberry Lemonade
1 shot vodka
1/4 cup ice cubes
1/2 shot lemon juice
1/4 cup lemon flavoured sparkling water
1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Add ice cubes, lemon juice, vodka, and blueberries to your blender and then blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and top with the sparkling water. Give it a stir and pucker up!

For any cocktail recipe, remember to add something fun for presentation purposes. A straw, mini umbrella or a slice of fruit will do the trick. Good luck in your cocktail endeavours and cheers!

*All recipes make a single serving*

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

Happy Sunday! I hope you've all have a nice relaxing weekend. Summer is finally here! In Korea, rainy season has just begun. It’s really not that bad, you just get used to carrying an umbrella with you everywhere for a few weeks. It doesn't usually rain all day either. Last night, the Simmering Seoulmate and I braved the rain and sticky heat and went out for dinner with a friend at our favourite Mexican place in all of Seoul, Gusto Taco. It’s a small restaurant right next to Sangsu station that serves up excellent tacos, nachos, burritos and one of my personal favourites, taquitos, which come served in a cute cauldron of cheesey goodness. Of course they serve delicious cocktails too. 

The night was filled with rain, friends, food, and a little debauchery in Hongdae of course. All in all a great way pick me up.

With summer finally here, blueberries are finally in season, and while still expensive, I thought I’d buy a package and whip up something delicious. While I debated for a long time about using them in the pancakes I made recently, I decided to go with muffins instead. I also had a bunch of lemons in the fridge so those are the flavours I went with. This recipe also uses yogurt, which I found quite interesting. It made the muffins perfectly moist and they tasted amazing. They also froze well, which made them last longer! I will definitely be making them again! Yum!

Blueberry Lemon Muffins
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
1 egg
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
zest of one lemon
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, I used fresh)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 ̊ F (190 ̊ C). In a large bowl combine the butter and egg and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour in yogurt and heavy cream and mix together with mixer for about 30 seconds. In a medium bowl, sift together sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture a half at a time. The mixture will be quite thick, more like a cookie dough consistency. Fold in blueberries. Line muffin pan with paper liners and spoon mixture into each one. Pop into the oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.

Makes 10 muffins.

P.s. If you enjoy Mexican and are in Seoul, defiantly check out Gusto Taco. I know I will be back there again very soon!

Pancakes

I am the luckiest girl in the world. My boyfriend cooks me breakfast every day. Sometimes its French toast or fried potatoes and other days it’s a slice of toast with peanut butter or a bagel with cream cheese. It doesn't matter what it is, it’s that it is served to me as I primp myself for work every day. What a guy. So, once and awhile I like to treat him to one of his favorites. Pancakes. Store bought mixes are okay, but I really don’t care for the ones they sell in Korea. Homemade pancakes are easy and delicious, so that’s what I prefer to do. This past weekend, I whipped up a batch. They end up fluffy, but still light. For mine, I always include chocolate chips, while my boyfriend prefers his au natural.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tbsp melted butter
A small handful of chocolate chips, blueberries, or sliced strawberries

Directions
In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in milk, butter and egg. Mix together with a wooden spoon.
Heat a lightly oiled pan over medium high heat and use a soup ladle to pour batter into the pan. Add chocolate chips, fresh fruit, or leave them plain. When the batter begins to bubble flip the pancakes and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve with butter and classic Canadian maple syrup. Enjoy!

Makes 10 pancakes.