Homemade Candied Apples

No matter how easy a recipe for candied apples claims to be, I will be honest with you- they are a little bit hard to make in my opinion. I guess that's because I seriously lack the kind of patience it takes to stand at a pot for such a long time. Nevertheless they are a fun fall treat and I will probably keep making them even though they are a pain. Here is my recipe:

You will need:
6 Gala apples
6 popsicle sticks
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons red food coloring

Add the sugar, corn syrup, and water to a heavy saucepan (like stainless steel) and bring it to a boil over medium heat (I use the setting 4 on my stove dial). You must continually stir this until it begins to boil.

Tip: use a stainless steel whisk to stir this with so that when you are finished all you have to do is dip it into boiling water and all of the hardened candy will just dissolve right off.

Once it has begun to boil, put the tip of a candy thermometer into the sugar mixture. Be sure the thermometer is not touching the bottom of the pan. You want to boil this until the candy thermometer reads 285 degrees or soft crack. Don't make the mistake of walking away from this. Although you don't need to keep stirring, it does need to be monitored. This will take a while. In my experience, about 30-45 minutes depending on the depth of your saucepan. 

While you're waiting on the mixture to to achieve the correct temp, prepare your apples. Be sure and remove all stems and take off all stickers from the grocery store. Stick popsicle sticks into the center of the apples about halfway down. 

Also prepare a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil which has been greased.
When your sugar mixture reaches 285 degrees, add the cinnamon and red food coloring.

Now begin working quickly to coat the apples. Roll each apple in the mixture and then allow them to drip over the pan until the excess mixture has dripped off. Put each apple on to your greased aluminum foil lined cookie sheet.  If you want to add any nuts or sprinkles now is the time to do it. 

This recipe is easy to double, but be aware that you will have to work very quickly so that the mixture will not cool off while you are still rolling the apples. You can leave the heat on under the apples while you do the first few, but it is not advisable to leave it on the whole time because the candy could burn. Room temperature apples work best.

Tip: For easy cleanup, simply boil water in the pan you used to make the candy, and use a toothbrush to brush away any excess hardened candy as the water begins to boil. I personally have never had a toothbrush melt as I was doing this, but I cannot assure you that this would not happen! o_O

Warning: if you have dental work you are going to want to be very careful when you eat these! They do get pretty hard! Just be very careful.

Hamburger Steaks and Mushroom Gravy

This is my absolute favorite meal! I love hamburger steaks and this is my very easy version of mushroom gravy. It also happens to be the most tasty version that I have ever come up with. This is comfort food at its best. I hope that everyone else will enjoy this recipe as much as I have!

Here is what you will need:
1 pound of ground chuck made out into quarter pound patties
1 medium onion , sliced into half rings
4 cups sliced white mushrooms
6 tablespoons brown gravy mix
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon margarine

In a large, heavy pan, cook the hamburger patties over medium-high heat. 

Meanwhile slice  the medium onion into half rings. Also slice the white mushrooms. You should have 4 cups of mushrooms once they are sliced. I bought two packages of the whole mushrooms at the store. Of course you can buy them sliced, but they cost a little bit more so I usually buy them whole.

Once the hamburger patties are completely cooked on both sides, remove them to a clean plate. Add the margarine to the rendered fat that is in the pan. If you use a good ground chuck, there should not be that much fat in the pan. The margarine gives a better flavor to the gravy and is not quite so cholesterol unfriendly. Once the margarine is melted, add in the half onion rings and saute them until they just begin to turn translucent. 

At that time, add in the mushrooms and drizzle the soy sauce over the mushrooms. Cook these on medium heat until the mushrooms are done, about 8 minutes. 

Now make a hole in the middle by moving around the mushrooms and onions. Add the 6 tablespoons of brown gravy mix to the pan in the little hole that you made. Immediately add 2 cups of hot water and begin to whisk the brown gravy mix around. Whisk it until there are no more lumps; usually there are no problems with lumps as the gravy mix is made to dissolve.

Now add the hamburger patties back to the pan and simmer over medium low heat until bubbly and thick.

This will make enough for 2 hungry people. In my opinion, these hamburger steaks must be served with mashed potatoes. That is why I make so much extra gravy with these. There must be plenty of gravy for the mash potatoes!

Fresh Fruit Fundraiser

It's that time of year! Time to sell fruit for the Johnson High School Marching Band. This is Indian River fruit from Vero Beach, Florida. In my experience, this fruit has always been very high quality. We can even do non-local orders this year. S&H applies. We hope that you'll decide to support my daughter Kaylie and the JHS band by purchasing a box of juicy, delicious fruit! Prices are listed below. To order, please email me at melanie.olvera@gmail.com. The deadline is Oct. 30, 2014. Thanks in advance!

Chipotle Chicken with Rice and Vegetables

I love a hint of chipotle! But just a hint, because it can get hot! This dish has just the right amount of Chipotle flavoring giving it a nice smoky flavor without too much heat. It is a easy meal perfect for a busy weeknight utilizing one pot.

Here is what you will need:
4 chicken thighs
1 medium onion or 1 half large onion, diced
One lg can of whole tomatoes
2 Chipotle chiles in adobo
1 teaspoon cumin
3 carrots, cut into sticks
3 stalks of celery, cut into sticks
3 small potatoes, cut into sticks

3/4 cup rice

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Cilantro and limes for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Salt and pepper the chicken thighs and brown them skin side down in the hot oil. 

When the skin side is brown turn them over and brown the other side as well.  

Meanwhile put your can of tomatoes your Chipotle chilis with the adobo that they come in and the cumin into a blender and puree all of this together. 

When the chicken is brown, take it out of the skillet and put it onto a clean plate. Reduce heat to medium low. Add your coarsely chopped onion to the pan and cook until translucent scraping the bottom every now and then to loosen the pieces of chicken that were left.

Once the onions are translucent, add the garlic and stir around with the onion. Strain the tomato mixture through a sieve into the pan. You can use a spatula to help get all of it through the sieve. This will get out the chili and tomato seeds and I did not get blended up.

Turn up the heat to medium. Simmer until the tomato sauce is bubbly (about ten minutes) and then add the chicken back in. Now take your potatoes carrots and celery which have been cut into sticks, and arrange them around the chicken and on top of the chicken. Cover and simmer on medium heat for about 25 minutes.

Take the chicken and vegetables out of the pan and put them on a plate, add one cup of water to the skillet, and raise heat to medium-high. Bring the water and tomato mixture to a boil and add the rice. Reduce heat to medium low. Make sure that all of the rice is submerged in the liquid. Put the chicken and vegetables back on top of the rice and put the lid on the skillet. Cook on medium low heat for 25 more minutes.

Serve with torn cilantro and lime wedges. Makes enough for two hungry people.

Beans and Eggs

If you have never had beans and eggs, then you are probably saying the same thing I did before the first time I ever had them: that sounds gross. But the first time I ever tried them I became a believer.

In this recipe you can use any kind of beans you like, but the ones that work best are pinto beans, black beans, and even Black Eyed Peas work well with this.

Today I will be using some leftover beans I had from yesterday, but if you do not have any leftover beans you can make some very quickly. To make your own beans simply saute a half a diced onion in a little bit of olive oil. Add a can of beans when the onions are translucent. Salt to taste. Cook until beans are heated through. Mash these thoroughly with a potato masher. Voila homemade refried beans. To add more flavor you can fry out bacon and do this recipe with bacon grease instead of oil, but then of course it adds a lot more calories. I do not recommend using canned refried beans for this recipe because it highly lessens the quality of the dish.

Here is what you will need:
1 cup refried beans
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of oil
Cilantro, queso fresco, diced onion, jalapeno peppers.
Corn chips or tostadas

Heat your oil in a nonstick pan for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile assemble the rest of your ingredients.

Scramble the eggs in the oil.

Add your refried beans, these should already be heated up.

Scramble the beans in with the eggs just until well blended and heated through.

Garnish with cilantro, diced onions, crumbled queso fresco, and jalapeno peppers. You can change this combination up anyway you want to. You can use diced tomato, cheddar cheese, sour cream, etc.

Serve with corn chips or on tostadas. You can heat up tortillas for this also and eat taco style. This recipe makes enough for about two people.

Spanish Rice

This spanish rice recipe mimics the Spanish Rice-A-Roni that you can buy in the store. It is very easy to make and very inexpensive. You can use any spices that you like, I just use the spices that I have on hand. If you want to use cumin and garlic salt that's fine. You can also add a little spice with some cayenne pepper if you'd like. It just all depends on your pallet. The tomato bouillon is the most important ingredient and you can use only that and no spices at all and it will turn out just fine.

Here is what you will need:
One half cup white rice long grain
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or canola oil
1 cube tomato bouillon
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon adobo seasoning
1 shake of McCormicks roasted garlic and herb seasoning

Heat your oil over medium heat and a heavy pan. 

Add your rice to the heated oil and stir it around a little bit. Let your rice but just barely brown in the oil.

Meanwhile, measure out about 2 cups of hot water. To the water at all of your spices in your tomato bouillon. I take a fork and great the tomato bouillon over the water so that it will dissolve easier. Then take a whisk and whisk up the combination to assure that all of the bullion pieces are dissolved.

When your rice is just beginning to brown, add the seasoned water to the rice. 

Bring that to a boil , reduce heat, and cover. Cook for about 20 minutes and then turn off the heat underneath your pan. Leave that there until you're ready to serve it without taking it off.

This will make enough to serve as a side dish for a family of 4. I usually serve it with most of my Mexican dishes.

Tex Mex Enchiladas

These enchiladas are a favorite in our family. These are not the authentic enchiladas from my repertoire of Mexican home cooking, but these enchiladas are always welcome on the table.

Here is what you will need:
1 10 pack of burrito size flour tortillas
1 pound of ground beef
1 large onion
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 tsp of adobo seasoning
One-half teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray a rectangular glass dish with cooking spray. Brown your ground beef. 

When the grease begins to come out of the meat, add one half of the onion cut into strips. Let this cook until the onion is transparent and the meat is nice and browned.

When your meat is finished browning put it into another bowl, and add your other half of the onion cut into  strips into the same pan where you cooked the meat. When the onion begins to get translucent, add in your large can of tomato sauce and all of your spices. Let this cook until it is nice and bubbly.

Note: You can use the store bought enchilada sauce that you can buy in the Mexican section 

of the store. I prefer to make my own; the canned sauce can come on a little too strong for me. If you decide to use the canned enchilada sauce from store, you will need two of the regular size cans of it. Then just use it in place of the homemade sauce that's here in the recipe.

Meanwhile, heat your tortillas over medium heat on a comal or in a non-stick pan. about 10 seconds per side should be enough. This is just to make them plyable enough to roll, the intention is not to brown them. 

Then  role the ground beef up into the tortillas. Line the burritos up in your greased rectangular glass dish. Once all of your burritos are lined up in the dish, pour all of the tomato sauce over the burritos. Use the back of a wooden spoon to smooth the sauce over so that all the burritos are covered. Then cover this with 2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese.

Put this into the oven on 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until all the cheese is melted and nice and bubbly.

This makes about eight burritos and will serve about 4 people. The whole process takes about 45 minutes. I usually serve this with Spanish rice. Click here to see my recipe for Spanish rice.