Apple Rose

Fall is always associated with sweet warm apple pie. This apple rose is way easier than apple pie, and looks gorgeous. I saw this online from multiple places, and basically followed Cooking with Manuel with minor changes.

Ingredients 

To make 12 roses
Puff pastry sheet - 1 package of two sheets, thawed at room temperature

Apples - 4 large, prefer red apples
Lemon juice -squeezed from one lemon

Fruit jam - 6 TBSP, I used strawberry jam. the recipe calls for apricot jam

Cinnamon powder (optional)
Powdered sugar for decorating (optional)

Steps

1. Prepare a bowl with some water and the lemon juice. Cut the apples in half, remove the core and cut the apples in thin slices. Leave the peel so it will give the red color to your roses. Right away, place the sliced apples in the bowl with lemon and water, so that they won't change color.

2. Microwave the apple slices in the bowl, for about 5 minutes, to make them slightly softer.
3. Unwrap the puff pastry sheet over a clean and lightly floured counter. Using a rolling pin stretch the dough a little, trying to keep it in a rectangular shape. Cut each sheet in 6 strips. These are about 2 in x 9 in.

4. In a bowl, place 6 tablespoons of jam with 4 tablespoons of water. Microwave for about one minute, so that the preserve will be easier to spread. Spread the preserve on the sheet.

5. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Drain the apples.
6. Place the apples on the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon if you'd like.

7. Fold up the bottom part of the dough.

8. Carefully roll, seal the edge, and place in greased muffin cup.

9. Bake about 40-45 minutes, until fully cooked. Make sure the pastry is fully cooked on the inside before removing the roses from the oven! If after 30 minutes the apples on top look fully cooked, move the pan to a lower rack in the oven, and wait for 10-15 more minutes to avoid under cooking the puff pastry.
10. Once taken out of oven, left the roses cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from muffin cups. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top for decoration.

Chopped Hot Red Pepper (剁椒)

My neighbor Ivy was making chopped red pepper as seasoning for cooking, I followed suit. This is Ivy's recipe.

Ingredients

For each pound of pepper
Fresh red pepper - 1 lb ( I used red Fresno pepper this time)
Sea salt - 45 g
Chopped ginger - 1 TBSP
Chopped garlic - 1 TBSP
Sugar - 1 tsp
Black bean sauce - 1 TBSP
Hard liquor - some

Steps

1. Wash the red peppers, and let them air dry.

2. Remove the green stems, and chop the red peppers using a food processor or blender.
3. Mix in sea salt; then mix in ginger, garlic, sugar, and black bean sauce.

4. Scoop into a sterilized glass jar, seal the top with a layer of hard liquor. Then cover the jar with shrink wrap, and close the lid tightly.

5. Place the jar in refrigerator. It will be ready to use in 7-10 days.

Steamed Tofu with Chopped Pepper

1. Slice tofu and layer on a plate, put generous amount of chopped pepper on top.

2. Steam for 10 minutes

3. Pour out excessive water, then sprinkle some soy sauce, chopped green onion on top.

4. Heat up some oil and pour on top before serving.

Chocolate Plastic and Chocolate Rose

I wanted a chocolate rose to decorate a cake, and found this recipe that seemed easy to follow. It worked really well. It was striking when placed on the red cake.

Ingredients

White chocolate - 1/2 lb

Light corn syrup - 1/4 cup

food coloring (optional)
This recipe can also be made with milk or dark chocolate. The procedure for milk chocolate is the same, but if you are using dark chocolate, increase the amount of corn syrup to 1/3 cup.

Steps

1. Melt the chocolate completely over a double boiler.
2. Add light corn syrup in melted chocolate and stir until the mixture is thoroughly combined.

3. Spoon the chocolate onto a large sheet of plastic wrap, and wrap it securely. Allow the chocolate to cool and solidify at room temperature, for at least 6 hours or overnight.

4. Soften the hardened chocolate by kneading it with glove-covered hands, or microwave it in short 10-second intervals until it becomes soft enough to work with. Continue to knead until it is smooth and pliable. Do not worry if your chocolate plastic has lumps--these can be worked out through the kneading process. Dust your hands with powdered sugar if the chocolate begins to stick. At this point, you can divide it and knead different food coloring into the chocolate, if desired. Be sure to change your gloves between batches to avoid muddying the colors.
5. Dust your work surface with a thin layer of powdered sugar if needed. Roll out the chocolate plastic to work on.
6. Now you’re ready to decorate with your chocolate plastic! You can cut out shapes or letters with cookie cutters or a knife, or form the chocolate plastic into ribbons and bows, or use large sheets of plastic to wrap entire cakes. You can check out this photo tutorial on how to make chocolate roses.

7. Gather remaining scraps of chocolate plastic and wrap tightly. Store in a cool cupboard and use within 2-3 weeks. To re-use, repeat the softening instructions in step 4.

Pumpkin Mochi Cake (煎南瓜饼)

Ingredients:

Pumpkin /Squash
Glutinous rice flour - about 1:1 to squash
Sugar - depends on how sweet the squash is.
Red bean pastry filling

Steps:

1. Steam squash until soft. Then remove the skin. When the pumpkin is still hot, immediately stir in sugar.

3. Stir in glutinous rice flour, small amount at a time, and combine thoroughly when the puree is still warm, until you get a smooth, non-stick dough. The amount of rice flour required depends on the moisture in the squash. Roll the dough on a clean surface, sprinkle extra flour if it's too wet or sticky. Portion the dough into small balls.

4. Portion out the red bean pastry filling into small balls also. And wrap the red bean pastry filling inside the pumpkin dough. Press with your palm to shape a flat disc.

5. Heat some oil in a non-stick fry pan. Place pumpkin cakes in a single layer and fry both sides over medium-low heat until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. There should not be any raw flour taste when they are cooked through. Serve them hot.

Dracula's Denture

These Halloween treats are cool and tasty. This is a recipe online that’s fun to make. I did this from scratch. You can buy cookie dough or even cookies to start. You can also get the ready-to-use frosting. My only problem is that I could not tint the frosting quite bloody red. 

Ingredients:

Chocolate chip cookie
Buttercream frosting, colored to  red
Mini-marshmallows
Cashew or almond for fangs

Steps:

1. Cut the cookie in half; pipe red buttercream along the edge of the flat side, or you can frost the whole cookie; place mini-marshmallows along the curved edge, and put a couple at the flat edge for support.

2. Sandwiche the two halves together, and insert the cashew halves as Dracula's fangs.

Bloody Fingers

Ingredients:

Small sausage or hot dogs cut in halves
Flour tortilla
Ketchup
Toothpick

Steps:

1. Preheat over to 350°F.
2. Cut a wedge into the end of each sausage to make a flat toenail.
3. Cut the tortillas into strips of 1/2 - 1 inch wide, and then soften the strips in the microwave between damp paper towels for 10-30 seconds.
4. Roll each sausage in a tortilla strip around one end and secure with a toothpick.

5. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, remove the toothpicks, and fill the toenail with Ketchup.