SUNDRIED TOMATO AND BROCCOLI QUICHE (GF, Keto, Paleo)

sundried tomato and broccoli quiche in almond flour crust

Hi everyone!

As you know I love eggs and there’s no shortage of recipes with eggs on my IG feed @cakebrain & on my food blog 𝐂𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧.

I’m so excited to share with you a quiche recipe I developed for @BCEgg, a non-profit organization that regulates BC's egg farms.  The recipe can also be found on the Vancouver Sun site.

I’m hoping that you’ll vote for my recipe by clicking right here! 

I’ve entered my quiche recipe in their contest and would be grateful if you show me some love by voting for me!  You have to be 18+ and living in BC, Canada to vote and you can vote once every day until the end of the contest on May 17, 2019.  There is no purchase necessary, but you have to fill out a form on the above link proving residency in BC. 

free range eggs from Rabbit River Farms

I'm small potatoes in this contest as many of the other contestants have thousands of IG followers and are professional "influencers"; but I'm hoping y'all appreciate all the recipes I've freely shared on my blog over the past 12 years and give me your vote!  or give me your vote every day until May 17 lol!

I'm sharing a gluten free tart crust recipe for the quiche because some of my readers are Celiac/gluten intolerant, paleo, keto or low carb. I used free range Omega3 eggs from Rabbit River Farms, a local ethically run, organic egg producer. I'm simply in love with their golden yolks! #sponsored #ad #BCEgg

golden yolk love!

prebaked tarts filled with egg custard filling; ready for the oven

baked tart! 

𝗦𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗢 & 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗜 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗘

Special equip: FOUR 4 ½-INCH tart pans w/ removable bottoms.

Makes 4 tarts

𝗔𝗟𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗧

(GF, Paleo, Low Carb)

1 ½ cups almond flour

2 tablespoons melted butter (avocado oil, or coconut oil)

½ tsp Pink Himilayan salt

1 cold large egg, free range

𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Combine almond flour, butter, salt & egg in a bowl. 

3. Equally portion tart dough among 4 tart pans

4. Using fingers, press firmly dough up sides & press evenly across bottom. Prick crust bottom with fork

5. Place on baking sheet & bake for 15-20 min, until lightly golden. 

6. Set aside while you prepare filling

𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚

6 large eggs, free range

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ cup chopped broccoli florets

¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil (drained); chopped

¼ cup shredded cheese (feta, cheddar or mozzarella)

¼ tsp fresh thyme leaves (optional)

salt & pepper to taste 

𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨 & 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐢 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞

1. Combine eggs & cream in a bowl & lightly beat together; season with salt & pepper

2. Add chopped broccoli florets, chopped sun-dried tomato & shredded cheese to mixture & stir to combine.

3. Equally portion out quiche filling among 4 cooked tart shells, which are on a sheet pan.

4. Bake in 350°F oven for 20-25 min; or until just set

VEGAN MATCHA CACAO CAKE

Organic Vegan Matcha and Cacao Cake

Dabbling in the Dark Arts:  vegan baking! ;)

COCOA NIB VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM (low carb)

I think it’s about time I bought a new ice cream maker.  Don’t get me wrong…my vintage “Snoopy” Donvier ice cream maker has performed admirably for me all these years.  The trouble is, the capacity of this little low-tech-frozen-canister-crank-by-hand contraption is its capacity.  I can only make two cups at any one time. 

Also, when you add lovely hard chunky things like organic cocoa nibs--it becomes a pain to crank.  The ice cream created by this Donvier is not full of air (like the cheapy stuff you buy at the supermarket).  The best ice creams I’ve churned out from this trusty ol’ Donvier are custard-based.   I like the chew of a custard-based ice cream much more than the aerated stuff.

This ice cream rocks!  It’s low carb (no sugar!) because I’ve used Splenda.  Don’t smirk at me.   It’s summer and I am working on maintaining my girlish figure so I can go buy a new bathing suit!  To make it über-yummy I went decadent and squeezed in a whole vanilla bean’s worth of seeds into the custard base.  Then prior to cranking the mixture, I tossed in some lightly toasted organic cocoa nibs in there to boot.  I dipped in a spoon and gave it a lick in the midst of cranking.  I couldn’t resist.  It was awesome!  The cocoa nibs were crunchy, chocolatey and kind of nutty.  Ice cream is the perfect place to substitute Splenda for sugar because it's hardly noticeable.  This ice cream was just sweet enough, rich, had a nice creamy mouth-feel and tasted like a gourmet brand ice cream.  

Cocoa nibs have antioxidant powers and are so good for you.  The nibs I used were organic.   I can wax on about how wonderful they are, but to be brief, apparently they also have more magnesium than any other food; chromium(again more than any other food) and high levels of Vitamin C.

The ice cream looked gorgeous with all the dark nibs and vanilla flecks.   I had used organic free range eggs in the recipe.  The yolks were a deep yellow and imbued the custard with a warm hue.  With the other half of my ice cream base, I made a batch of matcha ice cream.  Green tea also has great antioxidant properties and with these two ice creams, I shall preserve my youthful glow!  That’s the plan anyway.

SILENT SUNDAY

Mini Lemon Meringue Tart from sweet e’s
oh who am I kidding? I can’t keep totally silent!

A mini pastry box for the mini delights


The Mini Blueberry Cheesecake

Or the Lemon Meringue Tart?

Bebe wanted the cheesecake (and part of my chocolate cupcake)

Flourless Chocolate Cupcake for me.  Gluten-free, rich, dense, chocolatey and kind of low-carb (relatively speaking, I rationalize).  $3.95 each.

XO SAUCE: HOT SAUCE HEAVEN

The first time I tried XO Sauce at a Chinese restaurant during dim-sum, I was wondering what the heck the “XO” meant. Could it mean it’s so good you’ll get “Hugs & Kisses”? nah. I knew XO sauce was expensive owing to its costly primary ingredient: dried scallops (conpoy). Initially, I didn’t know the name derived from its link to the premium XO Brandy. In fact, there isn’t any XO Brandy in any version of XO Sauce I’ve tried. “XO” seems to allude to its expense and its deliciousness. All the ingredients in the sauce are of a premium quality and special in this regard.

XO Sauce is a Cantonese hot sauce. You can eat it as a condiment with wonton soup, noodles, or dumplings. You can use it to make fried rice, fried noodles or put it in a stir-fry with veggies or meats.

Here’s a picture of the costly ingredient in question. The dried scallops I used in my recipe just happened to be pretty big whole scallops. You can also buy tiny itty bitty ones or broken scallops that of course taste the same but are not whole like the ones you see in this pic. These had been sitting pretty in my cupboards for at least half a year. I think if you freeze them, they’d last a really long time. I have used dried scallops in the past that have been hanging around for a few years and they were a little darker and drier, but had the same flavour. I have a feeling they could last almost indefinitely, though I have never had occasion to experience that in our household. Generally, I add dried scallops to “jook” (congee). I don’t really like fussing with the long soaking periods to create steamed and stewed dishes where you can actually rehydrate the suckers (intact) to go with fresh Chinese veggies.

It had never occurred to me to make hot sauce or even XO Sauce for that matter. However, the other day, my MIL gave me a bottle of homemade XO Sauce from her friend and it was da BOMB! I took to eating it dolloped on a boiled egg. I even got fancy and made devilled eggs (yolks piped with a piping bag) and decorated it with a smidgen of XO Sauce on the top; sprinkled with snipped chives. It was so good! Unfortunately, I ate all of those and there aren’t any pictures.

Try it on eggs, it’s out of this world and so easy! It’s also Low Carb and makes for a great snack when you’re feeling for something salty, savoury and spicy.

Notice that pool of oil in the sauce? Well, that’s how it’s preserved. You keep the XO Sauce in the fridge and it should keep for a few months (unless of course you’re me and eat it practically every day). I used fresh red Thai chili peppers and must confess it was a pain to deseed them. I wore rubber gloves and used a paring knife to split the chilies. I scraped out the seeds and cut off the stems. Then I rinsed them. I think that if you like your hot sauce really hot, you could leave more of the seeds in there. I like it mild.

The recipe I developed doesn’t contain any JinHua ham (a dry-cured ham). Even a prosciutto might do. I didn’t feel like heading to the market to look for it. I just used more dried scallops instead. If you like a smoky-sweet flavour, do try finding some dry-cured ham and finely dice it up to add to the scallops. I imagine you could adapt the recipe to suit your tastebuds. You can play around a bit with the proportion of chilies, scallops, dried shrimp and ham. I used scallions and garlic too and think this is preferable to onion, but I guess you can substitute onion for the scallion.

I don’t like my XO sauce swimming in oil, so my version is kind of “dry”. If you like more oil, you can just add more to ensure that all the ingredients are submerged. You can use the hot oil for stir fries and as a condiment too. What a versatile sauce! My recipe makes a huge quantity of XO Sauce…enough for gifting. I would say it would make a great Christmas gift. You could scale it down easily.

CAKEBRAIN’S XO SAUCE

(makes approximately 5-6 cups of sauce)

• 300 g dried scallops (conpoy)
• approx. 50 g JinHua ham (optional)
• 150 g garlic
• 150 g fresh red Thai chilies, destemmed and deseeded (wear gloves)
• 250 g shallots
• 200 g dried shrimp
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons pure sesame oil
• kosher salt, to taste
• 4-5 cups grapeseed oil or flavourless oil

1. Prepare the fresh chilies first. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. After 15 minutes, or when the temperature has been reached, turn off the oven. Wearing gloves, remove the stems, split in half and scrape out the seeds. Rinse and dry between paper towels. Spread on a sheet pan and place in the turned off oven. Leave the oven door ajar and allow the chilies to dry, preferably overnight.
2. Wash and clean the dried scallops. Cover with hot water and soak for about 3 hours until soft (or overnight if you wish, refrigerated). Strain and reserve the scallop liquid for adding to stir-fries and stock or soups. Finely shred the scallops by hand.
3. Soak the tiny dried shrimp in hot water for 3 hours. Drain.
4. If using the dried ham, dice finely.
5. In a food processor, put the shallots, chili peppers and garlic in the bowl and pulse until finely minced. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
6. Using the food processor, add half the scallops to the processor bowl and pulse a few times. Empty into large bowl. Then put all the ham if using, and the drained dried shrimp in the processor. Pulse a few times until crumbled in appearance. Add this to the large bowl. Finally, add the other half of the dried scallops and mix thoroughly.
7. Heat 4 cups of oil over high heat in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Add the minced onion, garlic and pepper mixture. Saute until translucent. Add the dried scallop mixture and turn down the heat to med-low; continue stirring for approximately 20 minutes. If more oil is needed in order to submerge the ingredients, then add more.
8. Season the XO sauce with paprika and salt to taste. Stir in sesame oil. Continue to cook until there is no longer any moisture rising from the mixture.
9. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
10. Place in containers and seal. Store in the refrigerator.

LOW-CARB BROWNIES THAT DON'T TASTE LOW-CARB!

Brownies: does this even look low-carb to you? no way!

I have certainly been eating well since going low-carb. No, I didn't eat the whole batch of brownies yet! I'm pacing myself. It's kind of easy to eat 3 or 4 though because they're very good. So, you're wise to stash them in the refrigerator out of sight and even wiser yet to cut them small. That being said, the recipe makes 48 brownies in a 13 x 9 inch baking pan and each brownie has a pretty low carb count. (Per brownie: Effective carbohydrates: 1.5 g; Carbohydrates: 2.1 g; Fiber: 0.6 g; Protein: 2.1 g; Fat: 9.7 g; Calories: 99 Made with Splenda only: Add 0.3 g carbohydrates)


Karen Barnaby outdid herself with this winner of a recipe. In place of white flour, the recipe calls for ground almonds and it incorporates quality unsweetened dark chocolate and cocoa powder. The moistness of the brownies has much to do with the cream cheese and unsalted butter in there. It makes a nice-sized batch for nibbling on when you crave chocolate or sweets (just cut them small!) and their richness helps alleviate hunger pangs. The ground almonds help with that too. That extra protein helps stave off further munchies.
Go buy her book for the recipe. She's already shared so many of her recipes from her book that it's only right that you buy her book The Low-Carb Gourmet for this one :P

LOW-CARB MILK TEA JELLY

Milk Tea Jelly: a low-carb dessert that is delicate and refreshing
I have had Karen Barnaby's cookbook, The Low-Carb Gourmet for quite a while. In the past, when I've low-carbed my way out of a few pounds, I have sought out her recipes because they're actually delicious-sounding as well as actually delicious. Barnaby is a local chef in Vancouver (she's executive chef at The Fish House in Stanley Park). She has published other cookbooks (that aren't low-carb) and she is active in a low-carb forum as she's an expert in making restaurant-worthy gourmet food for low-carbers. When you make one of her low-carb recipes, you don't actually feel as if you're on a diet. She indicates in the introduction to The Low-Carb Gourmet that she herself had lost 70 pounds and improved her blood pressure and cholesterol levels eating this way.


Barnaby is a fantastic wealth of information and she's a nice lady too. I met her a while back and the copy I purchased is signed by her too. There's nothing better than eating well and not feeling deprived. You certainly feel pampered making some of her gourmet dishes. I haven't been disappointed by any of the recipes yet. I highly recommend her book if you're a foodie trying to eat more healthy low-carb meals. If you want to check out all her low carb recipes, you can find them here. As you can see, she's shared many of the recipes from the 250 that are in her cookbook.

Some of the recipes that I particularly enjoyed were the "Deep-dish Pizza Quiche", "Salmon with Bacon, Tomato and Caper Vinaigrette", "Clams Steamed with Bacon, Green Olives, and Tomatoes", "Stir-fried Prawns with Tomato Coconut Cream","My Brownies", "New York Cheesecake" "Cream Cheese, Coconut and lemon mounds" and "Stained Glass Window Cake".

I was at Kin's Market today and purchased eggplants so I can make her Spicy Roasted and Mashed Eggplant (bharta) this weekend. I also intend to try the Cauli-flied rice and Scalloped Savoy Cabbage. My favourite section to read is her Little Nibbles and Dips section because I'm a grazer and having pre-made low-carb snacks in the fridge is so helpful so I don't reach out for chips or sugar-laced foods.

For this post, I used Barnaby's Coffee Jelly recipe and adapted it to my tastes. I'm a tea-drinker so I used really supersonic dark tea. In those HK cafes around town, they use orange pekoe tea bags and boil the heck out of it, creating this almost thick, dark amber liquid that is so strong it rivals black coffee. It comes with the milk (I suspect powdered creamer or canned evaporated milk) mixed into it already and all you do is add sugar to your liking. To make my Milk Tea Jelly I used Red Rose orange pekoe tea bags (4 in total) and steeped them in the hot water, squeezing the bags out until they rendered all they tannin-laced juices. I like my jelly stiffer than usual so I increased the gelatine a bit too. Using Splenda adds a slight sweetness to the jelly. I made one little custard cup full of the plain jelly without the cream and when it was set, cubed it to sprinkle on the Milk Tea Jelly.

The Milk Tea Jelly was so refreshing. It was light-tasting and would make a lovely dessert even if you weren't low-carbing.

*****update February 8, 2009******

Well, just 'cause Evelyn asked, here's my recipe--an adaptation of the recipe Barnaby created using coffee. I prefer tea of course. I believe any tea will do, but to be authentic Hong Kong Cafe Milk Tea, it's got to be Orange Pekoe tea bags. Red Rose brand is far superior in flavour and for some reason, I heard it's only available in Canada :P

Milk Tea Jelly

3-4 Tbsp. water [or enough to soften the gelatin]
4 tsp. gelatin
2 cups water
1/4 cup Splenda
4 orange pekoe tea bags (preferably Red Rose brand)
1/2 cup whipping cream
optional whipped cream for garnishing

1. Place the 3 Tbsp. water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface. Let stand until the gelatin softens.
2. Heat 2 cups water in a small saucepan. Heat the water until boiling and turn off the heat. Add the 4 tea bags and allow to steep until extremely dark (from 5-10 minutes). Press the bags with the back of a spoon. Remove tea bags and discard.
3. Add soaked gelatin and stir until it dissolves. Add the Splenda to the tea mixture. Stir well.
4. Measure out 3/4 cup of the tea mixture into a small bowl. Add the cream to the remaining mixture. Stir well and pour into 4 small dessert dishes. Place both mixtures into the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours.
5. Remove the plain jelly from the bowl and cut into 1/2-inch cubes and pile onto the jelly in the dishes. Garnish with more whipped cream if you like and a coffee bean or two.
   Total Carbohydrates: 8.17
   Carbohydrates per Serving: 2.04

LOW-CARB MINI CHEESECAKES

i resolve to eat more cheesecake: low-carb mini cheesecake, to be exact

I apologize for the long bouts of nothingness. I am finding it difficult to post about desserts because I'm struggling with trying to start the new year by eating healthy. That means I have to cut back on my sugar intake. So far, I've gradually weaned myself off eating lots of sugar.

However, my food blog has suffered greatly since going low-carb. It seems almost impossible to maintain a food blog concentrating on desserts when you're watching what you eat.

But, I have found a way around this dilemma.

I'm going low-carb. No! don't go running away so soon! I do promise desserts! Some with sugar even (these will be donated to a worthy cause...my co-workers). However, I'll be adding low-carb desserts too.


For the next little while, I'll be posting more recipes for low-carb desserts. After my first baby, I gained over 60 lbs. Yes, 60. I know that you're only supposed to gain 25-30 pounds, but I had a thing for fruit. Especially watermelon. I ate healthily. I didn't eat fried stuff or junk food. But I ate a lot of fruit. All that sugar just turned into fat. My baby wasn't even that big. It took 2 years to get myself down (slowly and steadily) down to 10 pounds over my beginning weight. When I hit a plateau...and I hit several, I decided to go low-carb and eliminate all sugar and white, refined foods. This allowed me to come down to those last 10 pounds over my starting weight.

Before I could lose those last 10 pounds, I decided to have my other daughter. So it goes. Now, she's 2 and I'm kind of stuck with an extra 10 on top of the 10 I never lost. All in all, I want to get rid of those 20 pounds so I can fit some of my old skinny clothes. I'm frugal. I'm not throwing those clothes away! I buy pretty nice stuff and some of it is hardly worn. Most of the styles are timeless too.

Some people might say that I was too skinny to start off with, but I don't think so. I was within a normal BMI range and I'm Asian...which means I was just right. Some of us have small bones, you see. It's not as if you can compare all people around the world with the generally Caucasian-centric stats. I learned this goes for looking at your baby's weight and height too. Everyone's so into comparing their babies with the percentile rankings, but forget the numbers used are primarily based on Caucasian kids.

Since Chinese New Year's I've decided to commit to this Low Carb way of eating. No, I'm not going Atkins (though it did work for me the first time). I'll be eating some fruit and veggies and I do cheat with little rewards when I've been good. It'll take me longer, but at least this way I might be able to stick to it better.

Here's my first little reward. It's a mini cheesecake. I replaced all the sugar with Splenda. The cheesecakes are so little (portion control!) and taste quite nice with the dark chocolate. I thought of dipping them in low-carb ganache, but it was getting late so I didn't bother. The mini cheesecake was gone in 5 little bites. It was just enough to get me through a sugar hump. Now I'm good. I washed it all down with some green tea and I feel good!

Okay, okay you geeks out there who cringe when they see Splenda...don't use it. If you're so against Splenda, go here and use sugar instead! :P However, I find Splenda does work out quite well considering. Baked goods come out generally drier (of course, because sugar acts like a wet ingredient in baking); but like I always say, it'll do. For a person who shouldn't be eating dessert, there's got to be some sort of a yummy reward. That's my motto during this low-carb era: it'll do! It's better than eating all that sugar and having my body go on a sugar high. I find when I haven't had sugar for a while, my body adjusts and I find I don't crave it.

LOW-CARB MINI VANILLA BEAN CHEESECAKES
adapted from Williams Sonoma recipe on the back of the bakeware box

For the Crusts:

1 cup (114 g) graham cracker crumbs
2 T Splenda
pinch of salt
2 T unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:
16 oz (500 g) cream cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60 ml) heavy cream
1/2 cup (125g) Splenda
[i added a vanilla bean, split; seeds scraped out and added to the cream]
pinch of salt

For decoration:
I used dark chocolate shavings, but you can use seasonal raspberries, strawberries and pitted bing cherries

1. Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Preheat oven to 350degreesF. Lightly coat the cups of the 12-cup cheesecake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. To make the crusts, in a small bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs, sugar and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until combined. Divide the mixture evenly among the cups and using your fingertips, press it evenly into the bottom. Bake until the crusts are set, about 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Reduce the heat to 300degreesF.
3. To make the filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-low and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the cream and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and salt and beat until incorporated, about 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
   Pour the batter into the crusts, dividing it evenly among the cups. Bake until the cheesecakes are set, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours beore unmolding.
4. To unmold, insert the dowel into the hole in the bottom of each cup. Gently push up to remove the cheesecake from the cup. Use a small spatula or butter knife to remove the cake from the metal bottom. If the cheesecakes are sticking to the pan, gently run a toothpick around each cheesecake to loosen it before pushing it out of the cup. Makes 12 mini cheesecakes.