jam filled almond muffins

disclaimer: this post includes rants about school. if you don't want to be stressed out you can skip to the recipe at the bottom. ;)
there's nothing like soft and tender muffins that are super easy to make. this particular muffin falls into that category and i am telling you, you can whip this treat up really, really fast.

okay, so i missed last week's muffin monday because i was ridiculously busy. school's crazy, man. it's seriously kickin' my butt, however, i decided to do some baking in between reading super long essays and articles to prevent me from pulling all my hair out. you see, this is quite a stressful semester for me, not because all of my classes are super hard, but most of them requires so much reading and writing. normally, i would just have one writing and reading intensive class, but this semester i have two and i am taking them online which makes it doubly hard. i am an immigrant for chrissakes, i am all englished out. i need to replenish my diminishing vocabulary. as i was saying, this recipe is super easy. it literally took me 14 minutes from getting the ingredients from the pantry to putting the muffin pan into the oven ( i really did time it). i did it again another time and took longer the next time because i had to figure out what spice would go well with all the ingredients i have dumped into the bowl already. thinking about it, i am not sure if it was really super quick to prepare of if it was because i put a time limit on myself due to the papers scattered on the dining table waiting to be read. hmmm... that's something to think about. oh wait, i can't think about that right now since there's so much other school stuff that needs to be done. omg, i am going crazy.
okay before you shoot me, here's the recipe.

jam filled almond muffins

ingredients:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup almond flour/almond meal
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup melted butter
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup jam (i used strawberry)

instructions:

1. preheat oven to 400 F.

2. in a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, almond flour/meal, sugar, nutmeg, baking powder and salt.

3. in another bowl, combine melted butter, eggs, milk and lemon zest.

4. add the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir only until combined. do not overmix or you'll end up with tough muffins. you don't want that.

5. line your muffin pan with paper liners and fill each mold 2/3 of the way and add a teaspoon of jam.

6. bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden an toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

eat while it's a lil warm and spread some nutella over it. trust me with the nutella. have fun!!!
muffin monday is an initiative by baker street. a culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum monday mornings week after week.

want some more muffins filled with jam? check out these awesome bloggers’ take on the recipe!

israeli couscous with tofu and feta cheese

a few months ago, shawn, randall and i took a trip to socal to visit family, but most importantly, for shawn to play badminton with his cousin. it was randall's first time to ride the car with us for more than an hour or two. so before our trip i made sure the i scour all pet stores within a 50 mile radius to get anything that would calm him down just in case he goes cuh-razy.
after about three bathroom breaks and a little over six hours, we get to our destination, the valley. randall and i dropped him off there and we went to anaheim to stay at my uncle's. our trip was filled with a lot of driving around. from disney's location to the kardashian's hometown and a lot of other places in between just to play badminton. after four days of driving, i felt like i knew socal like the back of my hand.
when i finally found time to do some eating, i headed to sunset boulevard and see where i can sit down and relax for a couple of hours until shawn's done playing. after driving up and down the boulevard for a good 15 minutes, i decided to park near the weekend market that was happening and just walk until i find a nice place to eat at. finding a spot to park at was a bitch due to that market thing that was ongoing. it took me 10 freaking minutes just to find a spot. it was crazy. anyway, as i walked past each stall, i kept telling myself to not buy anything because one, i did not have cash and two i didn't need a turquoise bracelet and feather earrings.
after that little internal struggle i had, i saw this little restaurant and went in. the selection was nice and the prices weren't too bad, so i was set, i was going to eat there. after reading the ordering instructions i decided on getting their couscous , mac & cheese and tuna. the couscous were to die for and the mac & cheese were ridiculously creamy. after eating and cleaning up my table i went to the counter again to get an order of mac & cheese to go for shawn and tell them how much i loved the couscous. the couscous were to die for. i am not sure if they put crack in it but it was totally addicting. how can something so simple be so memorable and good? i don't know, but my recent craving for it pushed me to try and make my version of it. by the way the restaurant is called forage. if you're in the los angeles area, be sure to check out their site and see what they have today. they have some amazing grub.

anyway without further ado, here's my take on their couscous based on what my tongue remembers.

israeli couscous with fried tofu and feta cheese

ingredients:

1 cup soy sauce
firm tofu ( i used trader joe's firm tofu in water)
4 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
4 tbsp butter
1 1/3 cup israeli couscous, or ptitim (you can use regular couscous, just refer to its cooking instructions)
1 3/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 large red onion diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
salt and pepper
green onions, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

instructions:

1. marinate tofu in soy sauce with a little bit of ground black pepper for about 10 minutes. make sure you flip it over after the first five minutes so that both sides can be seasoned.

2. heat up frying pan over medium high heat. add 2 tbsp vegetable oil on the pan and fry tofu. cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side.

3. take tofu out of the heat and let it cool. once cool, dice into bite size pieces. set aside.

4. in a 3 quart pot, or anything similar to it in size, over medium high heat melt butter and add the remaining vegetable oil.

5. saute all of the vegetables (bell peppers, onion and garlic) in the pot until the onions are soft and translucent. add salt and pepper to taste.

6. add coucous and cook for about 5 minutes or until it turns a little brown.

7. once the coucous gets a little toasted, add chicken/vegetable stock and bring to boil.

8. reduce it to a simmer, cover it and cook for another 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. fluff with a fork, serve hot and top with diced tofu, crumbled feta and green onions.

wordless wednesday: pickled red onions

chocolate cream cheese muffins

after a two week hiatus from muffin mondays and the blog, i am back! well, school started and i needed a little time to adjust and make my schedule work for me. with a 5 unit science class and 2 online classes that requires a ton of reading and writing, i have my hands full. badminton and cooking has been my refuge during this crazy time. i am so glad that i still have some time to squeeze those in, if i didn't i would've already pulled all my hair out.

knee-deep in unfinished essays and quizzes closing in on their deadline, i got some relief when an of bakerstreet.tv emailed me asking if i would be able to join them for muffin monday. i told her that i would be in a couple of weeks and i that i am excited to join them again. during that crazy week, i was looking forward to getting a recipe from an so i can at least have a little break from all the school work.

when i got this monday's recipe, i immediately thought of the starbucks chocolate muffin with cream cheese in the middle. i love that muffin. it's moist and sweet, and the cream cheese adds a hint or tartness to it. when i first tasted it a couple of years ago at the startbucks down the street, i came back repeatedly and devoured that muffin over and over again. then one day, it was gone and i haven't seen it since.

i thought i have forgotten about it, but this week's recipe brought it back. changing the recipe into this one was a no-brainer. when i made this last friday, i had the intention of bringing it to shawn's work together with the macaroni salad from raley's he requested. however, that did not happen since i baked it for 25 minutes instead of 12-15 minutes. after i realized that i over baked it, i was glad that i did not dump the left over batter yet. so i baked another batch, baked it for the right amount of time and it came out perfect. moist, sweet, a tinge of bitterness from the cocoa and some tartness from the cream cheese, i loved it.

chocolate cream cheese muffins

ingredients:

275 g flour
75 g cocoa powder
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
140 g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
250 ml milk
2 tsp white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 oz oil

filling

6 0z cream cheese, room temperature
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

instructions:

1. preheat the oven to 350 F. line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases.

2. sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a large bowl, then stir in the sugar and salt.

3. beat the eggs, milk vinegar and vanilla extract together in another bowl, then stir in the oil and gently mix into the dry ingredients to make a loose, slightly lumpy mixture. Do not overmix or the muffins will be tough.

4. mix together the soft cream cheese, sugar and vanilla for the filling.

5. half-fill the paper cases with the muffin mixture, then top with a teaspoon of sweet cheese.

6. bake for 12-15 minutes until well risen and a toothpick comes out clean. remove from the tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

muffin monday is an initiative by baker street. a culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum monday mornings week after week.

want some more muffins with cream cheese? check out these awesome bloggers' take on the recipe!