Cranberry Apple Crisp

Prep Time: 30 Minutes                           Cook Time: 1 Hour
Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Servings: 12 Ingredients:

Filling

6 apples - peeled, cored and chopped
1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries,roughly chopped
11/2 cups white sugar
1/3 cup quick-cooking tapioca

Topping

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine apples, cranberries, and sugar.
Cover, and set aside for about 20 minutes.
Mix in tapioca, and set aside for 15 to 20 minutes, until tapioca has absorbed fruit juice.
Spread mixture into a 9 by 13 inch pan.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter.
Work mixture with fingertips until crumbly. (Tip: easier if the butter is frozen hard enough to grate with a grater).
Spread mixture over the apple-cranberry filling.
Bake 45 to 60 minutes on the bottom rack of the preheated oven, or until apples are tender when tested with a wooden pick.

Wild Orange Marmalade Recipe

My in laws gave me many tiny oranges from their orange tree. I couldnt figure out what kind of oranges they were. They were a little bit smaller and more round in shape than Kumquarts. They have very thin skin and no white part between the fruit and the skin. They have big seeds inside and are tart so I decided that they were wild oranges!

I peeled and juiced all the tiny oranges I had. I got about 2 cups of peel and about 2 cups of juice. I will do my best to share "the recipe" with you but this is one of those things I made without a recipe and with what I have on hand. So take the basic methods of jam making and apply.

Here is how I made the marmalade:

About 2 Cups wild orange Peel, finely diced or in strips
1 1/2 Cup wild orange juice from the fruit
1 1/2 Cup sugar
1 package Sure Jell fruit pectin

Put everything in a sauce pan and bring to a boil till all the sugar melted. Lower the heat to low and let simmer for 30 min. Put in mason jars and enjoy!

Lemon Curd

My in laws have a Myer lemon tree and they gave me some beautiful lemons. I was trying to figure out what to do with them and eventually decided to make lemon curd using Ina Garten's delicious lemon curd recipe I found on food network's site. This recipe uses all the zest and the lemon juice so I felt like I am fully using the pretty lemons. Also, I can enjoy the lemon curd in the fridge for a while.

There are many ways to enjoy this delicious spread and many recipes are available on the internet world.

Here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy lemon curd..
               Over fluffy ricotta pancakes
               Filling inside raspberry or coconut cupcakes
               Spread on a cheesecake
                Make mini lemon tarts
and many more.....

The recipe is as follows:

Prep Time: 20 min   Cook Time:10 min   Level: Easy
Serves: 3 cups

Ingredients

3 lemons
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
4 extra-large eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Using a carrot peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.
Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.
Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below simmer. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.


I canned mine in mason jars and stored them in the fridge.

Rosemary Garlic Pork Loin Roast

Around the holidays pork loin goes on sale and I usually get one. I couldn't find the recipe that I usually use but I am very pleased with this one that I came up with. I used very few and ingredients to make this yummy juicy pork.

Ingredients

3-4 lb pork loin ( that was what I bought to feed 7 adults)
1 TBS minced garlic
1 TBS Rosemary (chopped small)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
Pepper
1 TBS olive oil
some water

Preheat the oven to 475• F.
Rinse and pat dry the pork.
Rub the pork loin with 1 TBS olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and peeper.
Make a paste using rosemary, garlic and 1 tsp olive oil.
Cut small slits all over the pork loin and stuff put the herb paste into them.

Bake the pork uncovered for 15 min. Then reduce the heat to 425•F and bake about 40 more minutes or till the meat thermometer reads 150•F.

Add a little bit of water (1/4 cup ) into the pan while baking and do not let the pan burn.

Let the pork sit for 15 minutes before slicing.

Samgyetang (삼계탕) Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup

HERE comes another soup recipe you may say, but I cannot tell you enough times how much I love soups and stews. This soup definitely is a special occasion type of soup not because it is hard to make but because of the ingredients I have to gather before making it. I have never ever bought fresh ginseng till I made this soup the other day and it was pricey. I am sure getting dried ginseng would have saved me money but I wanted to follow this recipe from Norecipes exactly. I encourage you to visit the original website mentioned to see all the fun pictures too. I read that this soup is served in the summer in Korean but I made this on a cold rainy day. I love hot soups on a cold day! I aslo doubled the recipe because I had company. I made a special trip to a Korean gerocery store and found all the ingredients needed and I bought everything fresh. I wouldn't leave anything out, but I must say that I loved the chestnuts in the soup very much because they are so sweet and add a little crunch in the soup. I also bought a premade package with dried ginseng, jujubes, rice , and etc to try another time and compare and the taste and convenience.
I am so thankful for Internet and fellow food blogger such as Norecipes for sharing the recipes and allowing me to learn. This is the recipe I used.

Serves 2 hungry people

1/2 cup sticky rice (also known as “sweet rice” or “glutinous rice”)
2 Cornish game hens
2 tablespoons kosher salt (halve if using regular salt)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
3 small fresh ginseng roots (dried works okay too)
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
10 jujubes
4 whole chestnuts
4 cups low sodium chicken stock (preferably home made)
1 scallion thinly sliced
sea salt for serving

The morning you want to make the Samgyetang, wash the rice and soak it in a bowl full of cold water. Rub each hen with a tablespoon of kosher salt, both inside and out.

When you’re ready to start cooking, drain the rice and mix it with the pine nuts. Add a ginseng root, garlic clove, jujube, and chestnut into the cavity of each hen, then split the rice between the two hens. Add another garlic clove, jujube, and chestnut to each chicken, then cut a small slit into the flap of skin just above each drumstick and thread the end of each drumstick through both flaps as shown in the photo below. You could also use a toothpick to “stitch” the opening shut, you just want to keep the opening closed so the stuffing doesn’t all fall out.

Add the chicken stock and remaining ginseng root, garlic, and jujubes to a pot that’s just big enough to hold both hens. Bring to a boil, then carefully add both hens. Return the soup to a boil then cover and turn the heat down to low and simmer for one hour.

Serve the Samgyetang in a small pot or stone bowl along with the soup, then garnish with the scallions. Give each person a small plate of salt that can be added to the soup to taste, or be used to dip the chicken meat into.

Smothered Pork Chops

I love southern food and this is one of them. I recently got a dutch oven as a gift and it is perfect for for making tender thick cut pork chops browned and smothered ( slow cooked in gravy). I just love gravy and this dish is perfect over white rice. Basically, you will be eating rice and brown gravy with a bonus, tender pork chop. I will not be giving you the exact measurements of the ingredients but will walk you through the basic smothering steps with pictures and all. so enjoy and feel free to email me with questions and comments.

Ingredients (Approximate)

1.5 to 2 lb pork chops of your choice ( I used bone in, thick cuts)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 Tsp Cajun seasoning powder, optional (salt and peeper will work too)
2 TBS soy sauce
4 Cups stock/broth/ or water
2 TBS oil
3/4 Cup flour

Rinse and dry the pork with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper or Cajun seasoning powder.

Heat the oil the Dutch oven or big skillet.

Put the flour in a plastic bag and shake the pork chops one by one and add to the hot oil and brown them on both sides. Take them out and set aside.

Add the onions and peppers to the pan and saute them till tender about 5 minutes. Then add the soy sauce. Cook for a minute or two.

Then add your choice of stock ( I used turkey stock I made after Thanksgiving. Bring to a slow boil.

Add your pork chops back into the boiling gravy and cover. Let simmer till pork is fork tender. (this will depend on your pork and the cook ware you use) I did about 2 hours. Taste the gravy and season as needed.

The final results looks like this. Serve with rice.

Homemade Kimchi in Two Hours!

Making kimchi is easier than you think...or at least I think so. maybe because I love cooking and making everything from scratch when I can. My family loves kimchi so I enjoy making a big batch and giving some away to my family and friends. I have never made whole Kimchi but usually make the already chopped Kimchi. I think it is considered the "easy" Kimchi. I have not noticed the taste difference in the two. So, I choose to make this cut Kimchi using Maangchi's Kimchi Recipe.. I did double the recipe because I have so many people to share.


You will need:

Vegetables:

10 lb Napa cabbage
10 Green onions, cut in 2 inch pieces
1/2 Cop julienned carrot
2 Cups julienned Daikon radish
2 Cups leek, chopped

1 Cup sea salt


For the Porridge:

1/4 Cup sugar
3 Cups water
1/2 Cup sweet rice flour, see picture below

Seasonings:

1 Cup fish sauce
3 Cup hot pepper flakes

1 Cup whole garlic cloves
2 TBS minced ginger
1 Cup onion, chopped

*Tip: Use a food processor.

Preparing the cabbage:

Trim the discolored outer leaves of 10 pounds of napa cabbage.
Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters and remove the cores. Chop it up into bite size pieces
Rinse cabbage in cold water and put the soaked cabbage into a large basin. Sprinkle salt.

Every 30 minutes, turn the cabbage over to salt evenly (total salting time will be 1½ hours).
1½ hours later, rinse the cabbage in cold water 3 times to clean it thoroughly

Drain the cabbage and set aside in a huge basin or plastic bowl..

Add the other vegetables (green onions, leek, carrot, and radish).

Making the Porridge:
Put cups of water and sweet rice flour in a pot and mix it well and bring to a boil.

Keep stirring until the porridge makes bubbles (about 5 minutes).

Add the sugar.
Stir and cook for a few more minutes until it’s translucent.

Cool it down.

Making Kimchi Sauce:

Place the cold porridge into a large bowl.

Using a food processor, puree the ginger, garlic, and onions. Add this to the porridge along with fish sauce, hot pepper flakes.

Now you have Kimchi Sauce.

Add the kimchi sauce to your bowl of prepared veggies.

Mix well by hand ( must wear gloves or your hands will burn!!!).

Now that you have your well mixed fresh Kimchi, put it in wide mouth glass jars or air tight plastic containers. (Korean stores sell different containers for kimchi storage). This is ready to eat if you choose to.

A little "Kimchi Knowledge".......for those that ask me when Kimchi will be ready to eat after making it. Eat it Right away!!

Fresh Kimchi: Just made, not fermented, not sour yet.
"Old" Kimchi: Well fermented. Sour and great for cooking such as making Kimchi stew, stir fry, pancakes, fried rice etc.

Kinchi Tips:

* make sure your hands, all you utensils and bowl, knives etc are clean.
* Wear Gloves.
* Vinegar can be used to get rid of strong smells in the jar after kimchi is all gone and you want to clean your jar for reuse.
* Keeping the jar of kimchi in the sun for several hours will speed up the fermentation process and kimchi will sour fast.
* Keep a small container full of kimchi at room temperature to get "old" kimchi for cooking and majority in the fridge for the fresh kimchi.

ENJOY!!!