A Savory Stew of our Favorites

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Friday, September 17, 2010

Chocolate Covered Honeycomb

How to make Honeycomb
Honeycomb
* 2 cups granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup
* 1/4 cup Honey
* 1/4 Water
* 1 Tbsp (heaping!) Baking Soda

You need a candy thermometer. Do not attempt this project without one. Take a baking pan and rub butter all over the bottom of the pan and lightly flour it.

1. Add the sugar, corn syrup, honey and water into a pot that has at least 3 times the head space. The entire thing poofs up like crazy in a bit and overflowing sugar is a huge mess.

Honeycomb

2. Stir the ingredients together until smooth with no lumps.

3. Put the candy thermometer into the mixture. Turn the heat onto medium-high.

Honeycomb

4. Wait, no stirring, until the mixture reaches at least 300 degrees. The brown caramel color is what you're going for. Turn the heat off. Wait for at least a minute until the mixture has stopped bubbling.

Honeycomb

5. Add that generous Tablespoon of baking soda to the mixture. Stir. Stir. Stir. Watch for the poof. See it? It keeps growing.

6. Pour into your lightly floured, buttered pan. Don't fill it up all the way because the entire mixture keeps poofing.

Honeycomb

7. Let sit for 2 hours until hard. Hit with a hammer to break up.

8. Optional: Dip into chocolate for a sweet yummy surprise.

Honeycomb

From: soap-queen.blogspot

Friday, September 3, 2010

Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad

Glazed Pork
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c water
2 t fish sauce
2 t soy sauce
2 T oil

Heat water and sugar over medium high heat until carmelized (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat. Slowly drizzle in 4 T or so of hot water and whisk until smooth and coats the back of spoon. Add fish sauce, soy sauce, and oil. Brush onto meat. Let sit 20 minutes and grill:

1 lb. pork loin, sliced into large 1/4 in thick pieces

Let sit for 10 minutes, then slice thinly. (Note: Don't dip the yucky raw pork brush into your glaze, just drizzle it on and then brush. Reserve left over marinade to pour over your salad because it is sooooooo good!)

Meanwhile, whisk or blend together:

Hoisin Sauce
1/4 c. hoisin sauce
1/4 c. peanut butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T rice vinegar
Water until consistency desired

And chop up:

Lettuce
Basil
Cilantro
Chives/Green Onions
Carrots (shredded)
Cucumbers (very long, thin slices)
Noodles (thin, rice, whatever)

This can be made as a salad, as lettuce wraps, or in traditional rice-paper wrappers. I love the idea of wraps, but the truth is they are so messy we always end up eating it as a jumbled up salad, anyway! This is our new family favorite, and pork is so cheap that when you add herbs from the garden it is a very inexpensive but tasty meal that satisfies the meat lovers, veggie lovers, and pasta lovers alike in our family.

From: nessaandmichael.blogspot.com