TWD: Cran-Apple Crisps

The challenge for this week's TWD is perfectly timed, what with Thanksgiving just a couple of weeks away; apples and cranberries -- two must-haves in a Thanksgiving spread in every American household. I like this recipe because it is a good alternative to the Apple Pie.

I love the combination of tart and sweet in the crisps. However, I had a couple of issues -- the coconut in the crisps overpowered everything, all I was able to taste was the coconut. Another thing is that it's way too sweet, both the crisps and the filling. Thus, if I will ever make this again, I will have to reduce the coconut and the sugar.

This week's TWD was hosted by Em of The Repressed Pastry Chef. Check her out, she's funny and she has beautiful pictures. Also, make sure to visit the other TWDers to see what's cooking in their kitchens.

TWD: Sugar-topped Molasses Spice Cookies

A good indication that the holiday season has cometh to my home is when the cookie jar appears in my kitchen counter, next to the bowl of mixed nuts in the shell.

This month, what with the Thanksgiving holiday, the TWD founders gave us the flexibility to bake any of the recipes at any given Tuesday. Since I intend to bake the Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake for my Birthday (it's my birthday month!!) and the All-in-one Holiday Bundt Cake for Thanksgiving, I decided to make the Sugar-topped Molasses Spice Cookies today, just because I love Pamela from Cookies with Boys who chose this recipe. Hugs, Pam!

I cannot resist but add candied ginger in these cookies. If you haven't tried candied ginger yet, you are missing out, well, I think, unless you agree with the brownie monster, whom I encouraged to try a piece last night, and well, he didn't like it, actually, he hated it, ha ha! Okay, fine, it's an acquired taste, but nonetheless, it's yummy if you are into this kind of stuff. I have been chewing on the "Ginger People" for years now; they taste good and they leave your breath smelling fresh. I added about 1/4 of a cup, and when baked, they did lend bites of chewy surprise in the cookies.

I also sprinkled some turbinado sugar on top of each after I flattened them to get that glisten and sugar crunch I love in a cookie.

I love how the cookies turned out. The sweetness from the molasses is obvious, yet not overpowering; I still was able to taste the ginger, cinnamon and black pepper. It was chewy, and the bites of candied ginger and crunch from the turbinado sugar added to the texture I was hoping for.

I had a couple, and saved a couple more for tomorrow. I sent the rest with the brownie monster to Piedmont Transplant Clinic since he has a doctor's visit today. I love those guys at Piedmont, they take care of us very well.

Look out for the recipe at Pam's blog, Cookies with Boys. She decided to make the Cran-Apple Crisp this week, so check back in a week or so. Also, make sure you visit the TWD blogroll to see what the TWDers are preparing in their kitchen these days.

BBA Challenge: Bagels

When I think of bagels, I think of breakfast, and breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. In this generation where everybody is always rushing in the morning to get their day started, we tend to limit ourselves to a bowl of cereal or a slice of toast. As I mature, I get to appreciate breakfast more and more, not only is it my way of making sure that I start my day right by getting proper sustenance, but it's the time of day where I have the whole world to myself, before the hustle and bustle sets in, I can contemplate my day in peace and quite.

I am not a bacon, eggs and pancakes person. I prefer lox and bagel anytime; there is something very comforting about lox and bagel -- chewy water bagel, creamy cream cheese, silky smoked salmon, succulent tomatoes and piquant capers... hold the onions -- I have an aversion to fresh onions. This is my ultimate comfort food, and I bet if I was pregnant, this is what I will crave for in the most unholy hours. Not to mention that it has all the components of a complete meal -- carbs, protein and fruit, plus it's filling minus the guilt.

These water bagels are perfect. It's a two day process, yet so worth it. I used honey instead of malt powder, but I will try to get a hold of malt powder the next time I make them. I would love to share the recipe in here, but I do not think I'm allowed that. I, however, recommend that if you want to get serious with breakmaking, The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart is a very good book to own and I think is a must have in one's cookbook collection. It is on my Top 3 favorite!

Adding honey to the dough

The dough -- starter, yeast, unbleached high-gluten flour, salt and honey

Kneading the dough -- throw and knead; checking the internal temperature

The window pane test

Shaping the bagels -- 8-in dough logs

Shaping the bagels -- wrapping the dough around the palm and back of the hand

Ready to be retarded in the refrigerator overnight

Boiling the bagels

Boiled Bagels

Sea salt-Sesame Seeds and Sea salt-Poppy Seeds

TADA!

Pear filled Cupcakes with Seven Minute Frosting

I am not feeling well these days; I think I am coming down with something, and I am glad the weekend is finally here. I hate being out of commission, so here's my get well plan -- tons of orange juice and good amounts of benadryl-induced sleep, thus, I am in bed at 8:30 PM on a Friday night. I drifted to sleep, with thoughts of pears poached in cardamon, saffron and honey... that would definitely make me feel better.

I was startled from sleep by a loud ringing and a vibration under my pillow. F***, I forgot to turn my phone to silent. I glanced at the bedside clock, it's f***ing three in the morning? Who in the h**l is drunk texting me now? It was "The Boy"... Oh well.. some text messages, couple of calls, and an hour after, I was freaking awake like a Krispy Kreme doughnut loaded with 4 shots of espresso. I cannot go back to sleep, worst, I only am not craving poached pears now, but also vanilla cupcakes, Grrr.. It's almost 4 in the morning, might as well visit the kitchen and give in to my cravings -- I believe in indulging myself. I learned the hard way that I find balance more if I do not deprive myself!

Pear filled Vanilla Cupcakes with Seven Minute Frosting topped with Marzipan Candies

'Poached' Pear Filling

2 medium Borsch Pears, minced
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 T honey
pinch of saffron
1/2 t cardamom
pinch of salt

Mix everything in a one quart sauce pan and reduce or cook until pears are tender.

For the cupcakes, I decided to use Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla cupcake recipe again. This is going to be the third time this month. But hey, it's 4-ish in the morning of Saturday and I don't want to overthink things this early, haha!

I went back to sleep after I baked the cupcakes; give it time to cool, before I fill and frost it; that is after I finished off a couple of the vanilla cupcakes that I topped way too much with the pear filling, yum!

I woke up around 10-ish and proceeded on frosting the cupcakes. I decided to use Seven Minute Frosting (recipe from Epicurious) and torched the heck out of it. I love the torching part the best, hehe!!!

I topped it off with the Marzipan candies I have in the cupboard, which gave it it's I-look so-delish-so-hurry-up-and-eat-me look. And that's exactly what I did --I indulged myself, and I felt much better after.

Vanilla Cupcakes Two Ways!

Friday is my boss' 50th birthday, and Saturday is my girlfriend Kam's birthday. Back to back parties, eh? The best part of it all, I get to make their birthday cupcakes! Yay!

Both asked me to make vanilla cupcakes, so vanilla cupcakes it is! Same cupcake, different frosting to suit their very different personalities--

For the (cup)cakes, I want it to be flat on the top so I used the Magnolia Bakery's recipe. Allysa Torey's book, More from Magnolia is one of my favorite baking cookbooks-- yummy and mostly fool proof.

<<<<<<---- Look how spongy that looks! It's like biting into a cloud!

For classy, traditional Mike, I made a classic buttercream frosting, with three kinds of vanilla.

Three Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

(can frost 2-3 dozens of cupcakes)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
8 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 -1/2 cup whole milk
1 t vanilla extract
1 pod of vanilla
1 t vanilla powder

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

For fun, funky Kam, smooth and velvety Swiss Meringue Frosting.

Swiss Meringue Frosting

(makes about 3 cups)

1/2 cup egg white
1 cup sugar
2 cups unsalted butter (cold)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk egg whites and sugar in a large, heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water until the mixture is frothy, thick, and very hot to the touch (about 160 degrees F), approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat; using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat at medium high until cool to the touch, about 7 minutes. The mixture will look glossy and triple in volume. With the paddle attachment, on medium speed, beat in the butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, a few pieces at a time. Add the vanilla and beat until fluffy, approximately 10 minutes.

Mike's birthday was held at the Druid Hills Country Club in a cabana with a great band playing. It was a great party! Kam started her party at Joia, then it moved to Twisted Taco, her favorite bar. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go since I have to babysit "The Boy", who got "food poisoning" the night before, yet managed to eat two cupcakes that night.

To Mike and Kam, Happy Birthday!

The Jambalaya that bested Bobby Flay

Let me start by saying I looovvve Bobby Flay, and when I watch his show Throwdown!, I always secretly pray that he wins. This Jambalaya recipe won over his, so I just have to find out why oh why.

I met Chris through my friend Robbie in one of our night out; they play kickball together. He is originally from New Orleans, and oh boy, how he loves New Orleans. The week after our meeting, he went home for a Bachelor's Party, and came back with this book, Commanders Wild Side for me from the critically acclaimed, James Beard awardee restaurant Commander's Palace. Thanks, Chris G.!

I am fortunate to live near Cajun Meat Company, where one can get authentic Andouille Sausage in the Metro Atlanta area, and other equally good Cajun/Creole ingredients and food -- can you say Turducken? It's a deboned Turkey stuffed with sausage stuffed deboned duck stuffed with sausage stuffed deboned chicken stuffed with cornbread! Out of this world yumm-mey!

According to the authors, "Jambalaya is a true one-pot wonder: It has rice, meat and vegetables all in one. It's stick-to-your-ribs food that everyone in New Orleans cooks up for Mardi Gras parties". The original recipe called for smoked goose, but it's a work night, so cut me some slack here - I used a store bought rotisserie chicken.

Rotisserie Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya

from the Commander's Wild Side by Ti Adelaide Martin & Tory McPhail

4 t unsalted butter

One Rotisserie chicken, meat removed & cut into bite size pieces

1 lb andouille sausage, cut into 1/4 in thick slices

2 onions, chopped

2 green bell peppers, chooped

20 (yes, 20!) garlic cloves, minced

3 celery stalks, diced

2 bay leaves

3 1/2 T Creole seasoning

6 cups chicken stock

2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Tabasco sauce to taste

3 cups long grain white rice, rinsed thoroughly

Chopped parsley for garnish

In a large Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the chicken, andouille, onions, bell peppers, garlic, celery, bay leaves and 1 1/2 T of the creole seasoning. Cook until the vegetables are caramelized and a brown crust has developed in the bottom of the pot, 10 minutes. Add the stock, tomatoes, remaining 2 T of the creole seasoning, salt, pepper and tabasco. Bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. This flavors the liquid, which is the key to a flavorful jambalaya. The liquid should taste well seasoned, but not overly salty ot too spicy. If seasoning is added later, after the rice is cooked, then the rice will taste flat, not deep and rich. The rice will not have had the opportunity to soak up the flavorful liquid as it cooks. Stir in the rice and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and cook, stirring halfway through, until the rice is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leave. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Verdict? Very good. Himself ate two plate-fulls, and that says it all.

Daring Cooks: Chicken Phở and Dessert Wontons

Events resulting from the Vietnam War led many people in Cambodia, Laos and especially Vietnam to become refugees in the late 1970s and 1980s, after the fall of Saigon. The plight of the 'boat people' became an international humanitarian crisis. The UNHCR, under the auspices of the United Nations, set up refugee camps in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Indonesia to process the "boat people" (they received the 1981 Nobel Peace Prize for this).

My first encounter with Phở was Lent of 1996 while visiting family friends from out of town. My Dad worked with a first generation Vietnamese-Filipino and they invited us to spend the Lent with them. I'ma, the matriach of the family told us stories of their plight between her cooking and feeding us. It was my first encounter with Vietnamese culture, and everything was fascinating and nouveau, but the food is what got me - so flavorful, so distinct -- it was like a love at first taste, and that's when I fell inlove with Phở, and with Vietnamese food as a whole. My family eventually moved to the same town as where I'ma and her family lives, so I get to enjoy her cooking everytime I go home (and that's two months from now, yay!).

People who know me would attest that at one point in the first few weeks of knowing me that I will eventually bring them to a Pho place. You see, Pho is very close to my heart, what with all the stories I've heard from I'ma. One only need to watch movies like "The Killing Fields" and "Journey from the Fall" or see "Miss Saigon" and you will empathize and at the same time admire these people. Speaking of foreign films (watching foreign films is another favorite thing of mine), "Indochine" is a must see classic "Vietnamese" movie that everyone should see.

Okay, going back to the Phở , I prefer mine with all the works, or what they call 'Phở đặc biệt' (specialty phở)-- with fatty flank steak, beef tripe, beef tendons, meatballs and if I get lucky, other cattle offerings, LOL! I heard people say that Pho is just another kind of soup, but I tell you, IT IS NOT. Authentic Pho, like how I'ma makes them, is a labor of love. She boils and simmers the bones and you-dont-even-want-to-know-what animal offerings for hours, together with the spices to make a rich, clear both. She make those rice noodles from scratch, and grows thai basil in her garden all year round. In fact, she is the only person I know in the Philippines who grows them (we do not use Thai basil to cook with in the Philippines). She calls them 'gulay' - loosely translated in Filipino as vegetable. But Chicken Pho is still Pho, so I am excited that my first Daring Cooks Challenge is something very close to my heart.

As for the Dessert Wontons, I decided to use "Filipino" ingredients to go with the whole theme of "Asian" cooking-- Pineapple Wontons with Coconut Milk-Pineapple Juice Dipping Sauce and Sweetened Thai Banana & Macapuno** Wontons with Coconut Milk-Brown Sugar Sauce.

**Macapuno is a Philippine variety of the coconut palm that does not contain water inside the coconut shell. The "meat" of the coconut is a soft jelly-like substance that is used in popular Filipino sweets.

Recipes are as follow--

Pineapple Wontons with Coconut Milk-Pineapple Juice Dipping Sauce

Filling:
1/2 cup of fresh pineapple, minced
2 T of unsalted butter
2 T granulated sugar

Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup pineapple juice
2 T granulated sugar
2 T coconut milk

For the filling, mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and cooked it down until the pineapple is caramelized. Use 1 tsp of the per wonton wrapper. For the Dipping Sauce, mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and reduce until thickened.

Sweetened Thai Banana and Macapuno Wontons with Coconut Milk-Brown Sugar Dipping Sauce

For the filling:

1 pc sweetened thai banana, minced

4 T macapuno strings, minced

For the dipping sauce:

1/2 cup coconut milk

4 T dark brown sugar

For the filling, combine the banana and macapuno. Use 2 tsp of the filling per wonton wrapper. For the Dipping Sauce, reduce the coconut milk and brown sugar until thickened.

Vietnamese Chicken Pho
Recipe Source: Jaden of Steamy Kitchen from her new book The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook

Equipment:
Frying pan

Large stockpot

Tongs

Strainer, sieve or colander

Bowls for serving

Preparation Time: 45 cooking time + 6-8 minutes to cook noodles based on package directions

Servings: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Pho Broth:

2 tbsp. whole coriander seeds

4 whole cloves2 whole star anise

2 quarts homemade chicken stock (or store-bought)

1 whole chicken breast (bone in or boneless)

½ onion

1 3-inch chunk of ginger, sliced and smashed with side of knife

1 to 2 tbsps. sugar

1 to 2 tbsps. fish sauce
1 lb. dried rice noodles

Accompaniments:
2 cups bean sprouts, washed and tails pinched off

Fresh cilantro (coriander) -- I used CULANTRO

½ cup (50 grams/approx. 2 ounces) shaved red onions

½ lime, cut into 4 wedges

Sriracha chili sauce

Hoisin sauce

Sliced fresh chili peppers of your choice

Directions:
To make the Chicken Pho Broth: heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the coriander seeds, cloves and star anise and toast until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Immediately spoon out the spices to avoid burning. In a large pot, add all the ingredients (including the toasted spices) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes, skimming the surface frequently. Use tongs to remove the chicken breasts and shred the meat with your fingers, discarding the bone if you have used bone-in breasts. Taste the broth and add more fish sauce or sugar, if needed. Strain the broth and discard the solids.

Prepare the noodles as per directions on the package.

Ladle the broth into bowls. Then divide the shredded chicken breast and the soft noodles evenly into each bowl. Have the accompaniments spread out on the table. Each person can customize their own bowl with these ingredients.

Chocolate Wontons
Recipe Source: Jaden of Steamy Kitchen from her new book The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook

Equipment:

Small bowl

Pastry brush

Plastic wrap and/or damp paper towels

Wok or medium-sized pot

Frying thermometer

Preparation time: 15 minutes + 15 minutes cooking time (for 12 wontons)

Servings: Makes 12 wontons.

Ingredients:
1 large egg

1 tbsp. water

12 wonton wrappers, defrosted (keep wrappers covered with damp towel)

12 pieces or nuggets of chocolate (use any type of chocolate you like)

High-heat oil for frying (i.e., vegetable oil, corn oil)

Confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar) for sprinkling

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water to make an egg wash. On a clean, dry surface lay 1 wonton wrapper down with a point toward you, like a diamond. Place 1 piece of chocolate near the top end of the wrapper. Brush a very thin layer of the egg wash on the edges of the wrapper. Fold the bottom corner of the wrapper up to create a triangle and gently press to remove all air from the middle. Press the edges to adhere the sides. Make sure the wrapper is sealed completely. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and chocolate pieces. Keep the folded chocolate wontons covered under plastic wrap or a damp paper towel to prevent them from drying.

In a wok or medium pot, pour in 2 inches (5 cm.) of high-heat oil. Heat the oil to 350º F (180º C) and gently slide a few of the chocolate wontons into the hot oil. Make sure you don’t crowd the chocolate wontons. Fry the wontons for 1 ½ minutes, then flip over and fry another minute until both sides are golden brown and crisp.

Make sure you check out the Daring Cooks Blogroll for more Pho and Wontons!