BRAIN CUPCAKES, SPIDER WEB CUPCAKES AND FINGER COOKIES

Last year i made finger cookies for halloween. This year i made brain cupcakes and web cupcakes.

EYEBALLS : CANNED LYCHEES AND MARASCHINO CHERRIES
FINGERS: ANY COOKIE DOUGH BUT I USED MY EMPANADA DOUGH FOR THESE. ALMONDS FOR THE NAILS. EGGWASH THE "FINGERS" BEFORE BAKING.

My Last Years Fingers!

This years fingers!!! Looks like these fingers got arthritis and jaundice too=;), for some reason my eggwash was so yellow!

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix (follow the box instructions and ingredients).
**1 box usually yields 12 cupcakes

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Using an electric mixer, mix cream cheese and unsalted butter on medium speed until smooth.
Add the vanilla and slowly add the confectioners sugar until your desired sweetness.

***PIPE SOME DULCE DE LECHE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CUPCAKE FOR A SWEET SURPRISE WHEN YOU BITE INTO THE CAKE.

SPIDER WEB CUPCAKES. I USED DULCE DE LECHE AND CREAM CHEESE FROSTING.
SPREAD THE FROSTING, PIPE THE DULCE DE LECHE AND MAKE 3 RINGS ON TOP OF THE FROSTED CUPCAKE THEN USING A TOOTHPICK DRAW FROM CENTER OUT WIPING TOOTHPICK IN BETWEEN DRAW TO MAKE A CLEAN WEB.

BRAIN CUPCAKES: CREAM CHEESE FROSTING. MIX A LITTLE OF YELLOW AND RED FOOD COLORING TO ACHIEVE THE PINKISH COLOR. PIPE THE FROSTING THEN MAKE A "BRAIN DESIGN"

CHINESE WATERCHESTNUT A.K.A WATER CALTROP

I saw these stuff at every produce market in Chinatown, Chicago last month. We missed the Chinese Moon Festival by a day, i thought i could still buy moon cakes but to no avail, i instead ended up buying these. Well, i actually bought a dozen out of curiosity. I haven't even opened them, they say you need a hammer to open these scary thing.

I swear, i freaked out when i saw these voodoo like item. First thing that went to my mind "are they little bats?" i then looked closer, it looked like an evil head staring back at you!! lol!! then it also look like a bulls head w/ horns and all.

I didn't have the guts to touch nor pick them up, until the lady beside me told me what they were. They are called water caltrop another kind of water chestnuts. They say these are seasonal product sold especially during Moon festival .

BEEF TENDONS

In the Philippines, this dish is usually served as "Pulutan" w/c means foods that goes well w/ beer or hard drinks. I love these served w/ steamed white rice.

Ingredients:

Beef Tendons- about 2 pcs.
½ c scallions chopped (for garnish)
Ginger about an inch (julienne)
2 star anise
4 T soy sauce
1 T sherry wine
2 gloves garlic minced
1 med sized onion -sliced
Pepper flakes or Sriracha hot sauce
Oil for sauté
sesame oil
Salt & P (to taste)
2 T sugar
1 T vinegar

½ cup slurry (cornstarch and water)***
*** slurry is a thickener agent ( estimate only - 1 T cornstarch, ½ c cold water)

Boil and cook tendons w/ ginger, onions, 1 star anise, 1 T soy sauce and S&P about an hour or unitl tendons are cooked. Tendons gets tender and gelatinous when cooked.
Discard liquid used in boiling tendons. Slice tendons in cube-bite sizes. Set aside.
Sauté garlic, onions, ginger until aromatic.
Add in 1 star anise, 3 T soy sauce, 1 T sherry wine, 2 T sugar, sriracha hot sauce, vinegar and S&P and sliced tendons.
At this time you have to taste the seasoning.
Let simmer until all ingredients are incorporated and tendons absorbed the flavor.
Lastly, add the slurry to thicken sauce. Add slurry slowly depending on the consistency you like.
Serve hot and garnish w/ scallions and drizzle a little of sesame oil

ENJOY!!!

KIMCHI STEW

Pls. check Here for the Kimchi recipe.

I don't have any measurements for this dish. It's a matter of how much you want to make.

Ingredients:

Pork belly or pork butt (cut into cubes)
Green onions
Tamarind paste (I use sinigang mix (a Filipino tamarind mix)***

Water
S&P to taste

Kimchi

***Use vinegar in lieu of tamarind paste if not available.

Bring cubed pork to a boil. Add S&P let it boil until pork is cooked and tender. Add kimchi depending how hot you want your stew. Taste and if it's not sour enough for you, add tamarind paste. I usually add the whole sachet of the sinigang mix. Bring to a boil again until all ingredients are incorporated then lastly add the green onions.

I serve this w/ steamed white rice.

PAM'S CARAMEL APPLE

Pam went apple picking w/ her friends before she left for a "long long vacay" in Chicago. She made 2 apple dishes- Caramel Apple and Apple Pie.

There are still apples left so i'm making apple butter as i'm posting this blog. The house smells so good..Autumn is here!!!


Ingredients:

Six apples, 1 (14 oz) package individually wrapped caramels, 2 T milk.

Process:
Remove stem from each apple, Push a craft stick into the top. Place unwrapped caramels and milk in a microwave safe bowl and zap in the microwave for 2 minutes, stirring once. Let caramel cool briefly.

****To make them more authentically Autumnal, use sturdy sticks, and use these as the handles for these sweet treats.

APPLE CHIPS and APPLE ALMOND SALAD.

After all the apple butter, apple pies, apple muffins i have made. I have two other simple yet healthy ways to serve apples, apple chips and apple almond salad.

Chips, one of our favorite snack esp. autumn season.
Salads are always my go to lunch or dinner.

I don't have a food dehydrator so i make my chips using the oven at a low temp. No specific variety of apple is needed. No peeling is necessary, i like mine unpeeled for a rustic look and to achieve that curly effect and maintain the starlike shape in the middle.

All you need are the following:

Mandoline to slice your apples , but using your knife skills in slicing very thin and uniformed sliced apples is good as well=;)
Confectioners sugar
cinnamon
nutmeg (optional)

Mandoline is the best tool to make apple chips.

Preheat oven and set at 300 degrees F.
Lay and spread out sliced apples on a silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets.
Take out seeds as you spread the slices.
Sprinkle w/ cinnamon, nutmeg then confectioners sugar and then flip and repeat process.
Bake for at least an hour, no more than that, it'll burn!
Flip apples half way through the baking.
I usually let the chips sit for few minutes to cool down and become crunchy.
Keep and store in airtight container.

APPLE ALMOND AND CHICKEN SALAD

SLICED APPLES, ROASTED ALMONDS, ROTISSERIE CHICKEN (STORE BOUGHT), BABY ARUGULA SALAD BLEND, OLIVE OIL AND WHITE BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

ENJOY!!!!

APPLE CRUMB MUFFINS

This is a California Blue Ribbon Winner recipe by a friend of mine Marina who is also a food editor for Taste of Home Magazine. She's got more great accomplishments check HERE


For this recipe, she suggested to use gala, Fuji or Golden Delicous. I used gala and cortland variety.

Y: 12 muffins.


3 1/2 C Flour
3 C peeled and chopped apples (i chopped them small)
2 C sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 1/2 c walnuts, chopped
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c raisins
Sifted confectioner's sugar
dash of nutmeg ( my addition)
1/3 cup milk (pls. check ****, i didn't have buttermilk)

***Marina's footnote was to add 1/3 cup buttermilk if desired, or if mixture is too dry.

Preheat oven to 30 degrees F.
Greased and flour muffin tins (I used muffin liners)
Combine flour, apples, sugar, salt, soda and cinnamon in a large bowl.
Stir in oil, milk, walnuts, raisins and vanilla. Mix well.
Divide batter into prepared tins and bake 30 minutes. (I cooked mine for 40 minute coz i know my oven will not cook the muffins in 30 minutes)
If desired lightly sprinkle tops of muffins w/ sugar and bake as directed.
When completely cooled dust w/ sifted confectioners sugar (W/c i forgot to do so)

ENJOY!!!!

APPLE BUTTER

This is my first time making apple butter. I first saw and learned about apple butter at the farmers market and was determined to make them during apple season. Well, this will not be my last, i'm definitely making more of this.
Great as holiday gift!

I got this recipe from Dinner and Drinks with some tweaking ofcourse=;)

Ingredients:

10 big apples or 12 medium apples, peeled cored and diced
2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 C apple cider
2 1/2 pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 T lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients in a slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Puree the cooked apples ( I used my immersion blender), you can also mash the apples if you want some texture.
Cook uncovered on low heat for 30 minutes just to thicken the mixture.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

*Shelf life 3 weeks inside the fridge.

I've been enjoying the apple butter on my toast every morning.

APPLE BUTTER FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM WANTON NAPOLEONS (OCT. DARING COOKS CHALLENGE PART 2

This is my wanton dessert challenge. Hope this will make me win Jaden's Steamy Kitchen cookbook!!!

Ingredients:

Wanton wrappers - fried
homemade apple butter - will blog the recipe asap
french vanilla ice cream
mint leaves for garnish.

PHO TAI GAN (REAR STEAK, TENDON PHO) OCT. DARING COOKS CHALLENGE

The October Daring Cooks Challenge is making Pho. We love Vietnamese food and pho is one of our favorite. I have made this a lot of times, but i am not an expert in pho making (I wish!). I also know that there’s a whole slew of method and process to this dish, that’s why i was excited when this months hostess Jaden of Steamy Kitchen chose Pho. Let’s see maybe i will be an expert after this challenge. I can dream right?

Jaden suggested to make Pho Ga (Chicken Pho) but she also gave us other options should we decide not to make the chicken pho. I ask my family w/c would they like me to make, a unanimous decision was made...Pho Tai Gan (Rear Steak, Tendon Pho) which is one of my fave at the Vietnamese restaurant. The other fave of ours is Bo Ko Ca Rot (Spicy Beef and Carrot Stew)

I then decided to cook this specific pho using the slow cooker, primarily because i have no time to babysit the long and slow cooking process by using the conventional method on the stove top. Check Jaden’s crockpot pho recipe HERE . The recipe serves 4.

I followed Jaden’s basic broth recipe and then made some tweaking as i went ahead w/ the rest of the process. Since I'm fortunate enough to have access to some authentic ingredients, i challenged myself to make this pho as authentic as possible.

The broth you make is the success to your Pho, so this stage is crucial.

BEEF BONES- I used 5 lbs. shin bones (Asian Markets sells this type of bones). These bones has cartilage, marrows and some meat attached to it.

Par-boil the bones on high for few minutes just to get rid of the those scums (those grayish/brownish stuff!) Rinse your bones briefly. I know what you're thinking..what? rinse and throw the broth? yes!!! You get the "bone goodness" when you boil them for a longer period. Slow cooking the bones will produce clear broth.

CHAR THE GINGER AND ONIONS - 2 medium onions, about 4 inch ginger cut into half. Jaden say's this stage is optional but i say it's imperative. For me, charred ginger and onions imparts a fortified and smoky flavor. Believe me because i have tried both charred and not.

.

TOAST YOUR SPICES - Toasting will bring out the oil of the spices and for surely add depth to your broth flavor. These are the standard pho spices sans the black cardamom w/c i don't have. If you will notice i used Saigon Cinnamon
this is the type of cinnamon used for pho but regular cinnamon will be okay although the Saigon kind has an intense cinnamon flavor.

SINCE I WANTED TO AT LEAST STAY AUTHENTIC I USED ROCK SUGAR W/C IS SOMETIMES CALLED ROCK CANDY W/C AGAIN IS COMMONLY USED IN MAKING AN AUTHENTIC PHO. THIS CAN BE PURCHASED IN ASIAN STORES BUT REGULAR SUGAR WILL BE FINE. I USUALLY BANG IT W/ THE HANDLE OF THE KNIFE OR A HAMMER THEN BANG AWAY=;) A LITTLE OF THIS SUGAR ROCK GOES A LONG WAY.

USE A GOOD BRAND OF FISH SAUCE. THIS BRAND IS MY FAVORITE.

AT THIS STAGE YOU'LL PUT THE PAR BOILED BONES, SPICES, SEASONINGS, ONIONS AND GINGER INTO THE SLOW COOKER THEN ADD WATER ENOUGH TO COVER THE BONES. SET YOUR SLOW COOKER ON LOW AND LET COOK/SIMMER FOR 8 HRS.

THIS IS MY PHO BROTH AFTER 8 HOURS OF SLOW COOKING. TAKE OUT THE BONES, THE SPICES AND SKIM SOME SCUM IF NEEDED. BUT IN MY CASE I DIDN'T REALLY HAVE MUCH SCUMS TO SKIM.

AND YOU'LL BE LEFT WITH THIS FATTY BROTH. THERE ARE A LOT OF METHOD TO GET RID OF THE FAT, I FIND PUTTING THE BROTH IN THE FRIDGE IS THE BEST FOR ME.

UNTIL THE FATTY SUBSTANCES WILL CONGEAL. IT'LL BE EASY TO TAKE THE FAT OUT

AND YOU'LL BE LEFT W/ A CLEAN CLEAR BROTH.
THIS IS THE BASE OF A WONDERFUL PHO.

SO WHILE THE BONES WERE SIMMERING. I BOILED THE TENDONS SEPARATELY WITH SOME OF THE SPICES UNTIL COOKED. THEN SLICED THINLY.



SO W/ THE BROTH READY AND THE TENDONS SLICED THINLY WE ARE READY TO MOVE ON TO THE ASSEMBLY OF THE PHO TAI GAN.

THE REST OF THE INGREDIENTS FOR PHO DISH.

THINLY SLICED REAR STEAK. YOU CAN BUY THINLY SLICED STEAK AT ASIAN MARKETS. IF YOU CAN'T BUY THESE KIND, YOU CAN ASK YOUR BUTCHER TO SLICE IT THINLY FOR YOU.

HARD BOILED QUAIL EGGS

NOW THE PIECE DE RESISTANCE !

ARRANGE YOUR MEAT AND HERBS AND VEGGIES BEFORE POURING THE STEAMING HOT BEEF BROTH.

YOUR BROTH SHOULD BE STEAMING HOT WHEN YOU POUR IT TO THE BOWL. THE BROTH WILL COOK THE VERY THINLY SLICED STEAK.

NOW WHEN IT COMES TO PHO, I'M A PURIST...I DON'T LIKE TO ADD CONDIMENTS OR SAUCE FLAVORINGS SUCH AS HOISIN SAUCE, SRIRACHA ETC. I LIKE TO SAVOR THE WELL SEASONED BROTH. I ADD THAI BIRD CHILI IF I WANT IT SPICY NOTHING ELSE!

Thanks, Jaden for the Pho-tastic challenge. This was spot on, it was just like the restaurant's Pho! Pls. also check my Apple Butter, French Vanilla Ice Cream Wanton Napoleons HERE

BO KHO CA ROT (SPICY BEEF AND CARROT STEW)

Since it's "soup weather" already i thought i'd share our all time favorite Vietnamese Stew/Soup. A must have everytime we go to any Vietnamese Restaurant. We liked it so much that i had to research and experiment lots of different recipes so i can make it anytime we want it. I found this recipe at the library, "Authentic Vietnamese Cooking", i had to xerox the page. I have had this for years so don't ask me who the author is coz i can't remember. I'll have to google it.

Don't be overwhelmed nor be intimidated by the ingredients, some i'm sure are already in your pantry and some can be purchased easily...promise, well if you have an Asian store in your neck of the woods.

Through the years i have tried/tweaked the recipe. I have also cooked this in 3 different ways using slow cooker, dutch oven simmering for hours and pressure cooker w/c means cooked in an hour. I personally didn't see any difference it's all about your preference and how much time you have. I have tendons aside from the chuck roast so i opted to use pressure cooker to tenderize the meat fast.

The kind of meat cut really is again your preference, i have used short ribs, oxtail but for now i'm using chuck roast, beef tendons and bone marrows.

Y: 4 to 6

1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 t five spice powder
2 T sugar (use 1 T if using coconut juice in can)
4 lbs. beef cut of your choice (chuck roast, short ribs, ox tail, stew meat)
1 T vegetable oil
4 to 6 small yellow onions or 1 med. sweet onions
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
3 oz.fresh ginger, sliced and lightly crushed
2 cups young coconut juice or beef stock (i personally like coconut juice)
2 stalks lemongrass, remove green tops and root ends, bulbs halved crosswise and lightly crushed.
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick, about 2 inches long
3 to 4 dried chilies or 2 fresh bird's eye or Thai chilies
1 t annatto seeds or powder (sometimes called atsuete/achuete)
2 to 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally 1/4 inch thick

After cooking this a lot of times, there are steps i skip but will still show you all the original steps on how to cook this.

1. Combine the fish sauce, five spice powder, and sugar in a dish. Add the beef meat, coating well and allow to marinate, refrigerated for 4 to 6 hours. (I skip this step).

2. Heat the oil, onions, garlic and ginger in a pot. Cook the ingredients until fragrant and golden, about 10 minutes. Add the meat, fish sauce, five spice powder and sugar. Then add the coconut juice or beef stock and cover the pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. (I've used both coconut juice and beef stock, i like using coconut juice)

3. Add the lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon stick, chilies and annatto seeds or powder. (Annatto seeds or powder turns the dish red/orange color) simmer, covered over medium-low heat for 2 hours or until meat is tender.

4. Add carrots and continue braising until the meat falls off the bones. Skim off the fat.

5. Restaurants typically serve this w/ noodles but i love mine w/ steamed white rice. Garnish w/ cilantro leaves, Thai basil, lime wedges, bean sprouts, fresh Thai chilis if you want it more spicy.

Note:
To simplify the task of skimming fat and getting a clear and rich colored stock, remove onions, carrots, and meat from the pot. Then place a double or triple layer of paper towels in a sieve set over a bowl and strain the cooking liquid through the paper towels.

Some of the ingredients

Serve with lemon wedges and onion flakes

Or simply the soup sans lemon and all condiments

If you go to a Vietnamese Restaurant i highly recommend this! This dish is called Bo Kho Ca Rot, Spicy Beef and Carrots or simply the spicy orange/red soup.

ENJOY!!!!!