October 2015 archive
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!
Halloween came too quickly this year and I’m completely unprepared and unmotivated for one of my most favorite holidays. What makes things worse, Bulgaria doesn’t really celebrate Halloween, they have their own dress up “scary” holiday in February. In the spirit of things, last night I decided to make toffee apples, they look and taste amazing!
Hot spice toffee dipped apple in 72% dark chocolate and almonds.
Dark chocolate covered apple with dry roasted peanuts.
Deep purple vanilla toffee.
Dry roasted peanut dipped apple with black/purple toffee.
I originally wanted to make hard candied apples but I don’t have a candy thermometer and was afraid of over cooking the sugar and burning everything. Instead I ended up with toffee apples! They taste great, look great so who really cares if the candy is hard or not.
Hot apple spiced apples
2015-10-31 12:49:47
Yields 4
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
320g
Yields
4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 450
Calories from Fat 3
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 0g
1%
Saturated Fat 0g
0%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 17mg
1%
Total Carbohydrates 118g
39%
Dietary Fiber 5g
18%
Sugars 100g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A
4%
Vitamin C
41%
Calcium
2%
Iron
2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Ingredients
- 4 medium size green apples
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup spiced tea*
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- red food coloring (I used 1/4 teaspoon dry food dye)
- *Apple tea, chili peppers, cinnamon sticks, cloves and star anise.
Instructions
- -Steep apple tea with cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and hot peppers (I used dried Thai chilies) until flavorful then strain.
- -Wash and dry the apples then insert a stick to the top as firmly as possible. If the apples are waxy, boil water with white vinegar and dip the apples for 5 seconds to remove the coating as the toffee will not stick to wax.
- -In a thick bottom pot, heat the sugar, corn syrup and tea on low heat (second setting out of 8 on my stove).
- -After about 6-8 minutes the tea will have evaporated and everything should be bubbling. Stir and scrap the sides of the pot occasionally.
- -When it's almost ready you will notice the bubbles changing; they get larger, thinner and bubble more rapidly. I even noticed an audible change; unlike boiling water, bubbling sugar sounds snappier. If you have a candy thermometer you want your sugar to reach 300*F or test the syrup by dropping a few drops in cold water. It should be solid, almost hard.
- -Remove from heat and stir in food coloring.
- -Let the bubbles die down then quickly dip the apples and spin to coat the entire surface. Let the excess syrup drip off then place the apple on lightly oiled way paper. Let harden over night if you can wait that long.
Amalia and Matt's blog https://mattandamalia.com/
Deep purple vanilla toffee apples
2015-10-31 13:00:21
Yields 4
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
308g
Yields
4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 446
Calories from Fat 3
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 0g
1%
Saturated Fat 0g
0%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 17mg
1%
Total Carbohydrates 117g
39%
Dietary Fiber 4g
17%
Sugars 99g
Protein 0g
Vitamin A
2%
Vitamin C
14%
Calcium
2%
Iron
1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Ingredients
- 4 medium size green apples
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- purple and blue food coloring (I used 1/4 teaspoon dry food dye)
Instructions
- Same as above.
- For extras: dip the apples in chocolate, nuts, candy, etc., before placing on oiled wax paper to harden.
Amalia and Matt's blog https://mattandamalia.com/
Banh It Tran- Vietnamese Mung Bean Dumplings, soy infused eggs, spicy green beans and onion spinach rava thosai.
Holy smokes this was a fantastic dinner, one of the top 5 dinners of all time according to my husband. Let’s start with the rava thosai; my friend Alisa who is lives in Kuala Lumpur sent us a dry powder mix of rava thosai a while back. You mix the powder with water until you achieve a crepe batter-like consistency. In a hot pan fry onions until translucent then pour the mix onto top. It’s exactly like making crepes or pancakes except the rava thosai turn out super crunchy, spicy and delicious. The trick is to only flip it once.
For the eggs: hard boil egg, peel and place in a soy, water, ginger and brown sugar mixture for minimum 30 minutes.
The dumplings (could be filled with just about anything): fry finely chopped onions and mash together with cooked mung beans and salt. Roll into little balls and put in fridge for 30 minutes. The dumpling themselves are made from equal parts white flour and tapioca starch, a little bit of oil from the fried onions, salt and warm water which is mixed in slowly. The dough will have a smooth, bouncy consistency. Roll a little ball in your hand, flatten it in your palm then place the filling in the center. Pinch shut and roll smooth. Place in boiling water then wait until they float the the top (stir occasionally so they don’t stick to the bottom).
