Beany brunch

A good day to everyone... Brunch today is simple. Without a reason, I have a great craving for beans. Not any kind of beans but just burmese yellow beans. Yes, it's burmese yellow beans... you must be wondering what kind of beans are these.

This type of beans is one of the main ingredient of many Burmese breakfast dishes - knowing as boiled yellow beans called 'pe byouk'. It literally means boiled beans. 'Pe' is beans, 'byouk' means boiled. In order to prepare a dish with these yellow beans, sprouting of the yellow beans are needed. In Burma, 'pe byouk' is used for traditional breakfast in town and country alike, 'htamin jaw', fried rice with 'pe byouk' and 'yei nway jan' (burmese tea). Besides, it is also used with paratha, 'kauk nyin paung' (black sticky rice), 'hsi htamin' (yellow sticky rice), 'mont pyet talet' (rice pancake) and even with a bowl of plain white rice.

Burmese yellow beans are also called yellow peas or 'vatana' in Indian. However, in Singapore, it is not necessary for you to scout for it at Little India, you can easily purchased it in City Hall, Peninsula Plaza. And usually, it is already sprouted and it's not costly - S$2.00 per packet.

Paratha with yellow beans

Ingredients needed:
3 pieces of paratha (which can be purchased from local supermarkets, alternatively, you can use naan or pita bread)
1 cup of boiled yellow beans (as mentioned above, you can easily purchase it at Peninsula Plaza)
1 yellow onion, sliced
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil or olive oil
1 pinch of turmeric powder 
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of sugar
2 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon of fried shallots with garlic, for garnishing

Method to prepare:
Heat oil in a frying pan, add the sliced yellow onion and turmeric powder. Stir fry it till it turns light brown and soft. Add in the boiled yellow beans and stir fry them for 3 to 5 mins. Depending on your taste, one can mash them a bit or keep them whole. Season it with salt and sugar. And then lastly, add in the water. This is to soften the beans.

Garnish with fried shallots with garlic.

Serve it with warm paratha, naan or pita bread. It's really your own preference!

Welcome - Simply Homecook Affair

To be honest, it's really been a long while since I blogged. In the past, blogging was my daily chore. Not knowing the reason why, unknowingly, I stopped penning down my daily thoughts online.

And for now, after around 5 years' time, the feeling of blogging is back again. However this time, it would be something different. I'll be blogging on the food I prepared at home. Usually, I will do some recipe research on the particular delicacy which I would like to whipped up, customize ingredients of the dish, try it out and take a photo of it. I realized I am happy with this whole process and I really enjoy it. Besides, sharing it online would be really a good idea! Let's share the recipes and be happy together! That's what I've thought... Therefore, from now on, I'll share as many of my recipes in here and hope people who stumbled onto my blog would like it.

Bread Pudding with Apple Pie Filling

Well, the first recipe which I would like to share is Bread Pudding with Apple Pie Filling. To me, I love bread pudding. Going for a second or third round of servings in a buffet is unavoidable. However, to some of my friends and family, the name of the dessert itself did not sound very appetizing to them. Having mushy wet bread for a dessert? They would definitely prefer to brownies or creamy cheesecake...

Little did I know that it is really rich and decadent by its own right. Bread pudding, itself also takes on the flavor of anything you out into it. Just like a slice of plain bread, tasting great with any spreads - be it Marmite, Peanut Butter or Nutella. And so for my this recipe, it calls for apple pie filling, but of course, you can use other flavors if you want... Is up to your personal preference. Besides, you can even omit that part altogether if you want.

Golden raisins would be great too. Although I'm not sure how those renegade dark ones got mixed in. It's all good as well! Personally, I think that the secret ingredient, which is not really a secret because it's the main ingredient, which is the BREAD! The sweet Gardenia California Raisins bread is good enough to just eat alone. Can you imagine that used in this way? I think it would be HEAVENLY!

However, this recipe really isn't complete without a thick and creamy scoop (perhaps, two) of vanilla ice cream on top too. The contrast of cold and creamy with warm and gooey are just in perfect combination. 

Bread Pudding with Apple Pie Filling

You need:
1 loaf of Gardenia California Raisins bread
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 cup of milk
1 cup of sugar
5 eggs (beaten)
1 can of Comstock Apple Pie Filling (which you can get it from Cold Storage Supermarket)
1 cup of golden or dark raisins (it's optional since the bread has raisins already)
Cinnamon

What you need to do:
Preheat your oven to 350°. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Cut bread into small pieces and arrange it in the pan. Spread apple pie filling over bread. Sprinkle with raisins (if you intend to add more of it, or else, you can skip this). Heat up milk, sugar and butter until melt (medium heat, do not boil). Then let it cool. Add beaten eggs to the milk mixture and pour over the bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through and firmed.

And voila! Enjoy it warm with vanilla ice cream on top.