Hồ Đào, Hạnh Nhân Rang với Thịt Lợn Muối Xông Khói (Roasted Spicy Bacon Mixed Nuts)

Wow...I am finally sitting in front of the laptop and blogging starts creeping back into my life after a long hiatus. As most of you know I have just settled into a new place. The process as some of you can relate was exciting and stressful at the same time.

As much as I miss blogging I had no time and no internet for me to blog. Now that the dust has settled, literally,  I can now get back to my old routine. 

Let's ring in the winter holidays with some nutty appetizer. I was introduced to this by one of my good friends and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I tweaked the recipe a little bit and here it is! This addicting snack/appetizer is a mixture of nuts and bacon covered in sugar, salt and chilly spice - the usual suspects in anything good right?

Nut by itself is crazy good for your health as it is rich in omega-3 fatty acids.  It contains unsaturated fats, fiber, vitamin E, plant sterols, and L-arginine. Eating nuts helps lower your cholesterol; it reduces your risk of developing blood clots that can cause a fatal heart attack. Nuts also improve the health of the lining of your arteries.  But sometimes, snacking on plain nuts can be quite boring.  This recipe is probably not the best for your health, but more for your culinary soul;  I hope the two balance out.

We made three batches of the recipe, put them in jars, tied them with ribbons and gave them as Thanksgiving gifts to my daughter's teacher and our love ones.  My husband brought a huge container of these delicious nuts to share with his staff at work and I heard it was well received. Thanks for the support guys!

Walnuts, almond and macadamia are my husband's most favorite nuts, but you can use any kind of nuts you would like for this recipe.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my husband and my girls do.

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RECIPE: Roasted Spicy Bacon Mixed Nuts
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Printable Recipe

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Ingredients

1 bag (16oz) Applewood Smoked Bacon

3 Egg Whites

2 teaspoons Kosher Salt

1 teaspoons Cayenne Pepper

1 1/2 cup Sugar

3-4 cups raw Almonds

3-4 cups Walnuts, coarsely chopped

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Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

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Cooking Bacon

Place bacon slices on a tray, bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes. Make sure to turn frequently, allowing slices to brown evenly on both sides.  Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Save the bacon fat for later use. When the bacon is cool down, break them into small pieces. Set it aside.

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Preparing Nuts

In a medium bowl, separate egg whites from egg yolks.  Beat the egg whites and salt until just foamy. Gradually add the sugar, and cayenne and beat until just blended.

Add  almonds and walnuts.  Toss until the nuts are coated.

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Baking Nuts

Pour a generous amount of the bacon fat on baking sheets and use a brush to spread it evenly.  Spread the nut mixture in a single layer on the baking sheets. Bake at 300 degrees until the nuts are crisp and brown, about 30 minutes, turning and stirring the nut mixture with a spatula every 10 minutes to allow the nuts brown evenly on both sides.

Remove from oven and let it completely cool down.  Transfer the nut mixture to a bowl. Add the bacon pieces and toss to blend. Store it in a jar with a tight fitting lid.

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Presentation 

Enjoy these addicting nuts with a cup of your favorite tea!    

Cheers!       

Mứt Dừa (Candied Coconut Ribbons)

RECIPE: Mứt Dừa 

1. Lấy toàn thể 12 tháng trong năm đem rửa sạch mùi cay đắng, ghen tị, thù oán…rồi để cho ráo nước

2. Tuần tự cắt mỗi tháng ra 28, 30, hay 31 phần.

3. Trộn đều với : – Một chút tin yêu – Một chút kiên nhẫn – Một chút can đảm – Một chút cố gắng – Một chút hy vọng – Một chút trung thành

4. Ướp thêm gia vị: lạc quan, tự tin và hài hước

5. Rồi đem ngâm một lát trong dung dịch “Những điều tâm niệm của mình”.

6. Vớt ra, xây nhỏ, đổ tất cả vào “Nồi yêu thương” và nấu với lửa “Vui mừng”.

7. Đem ra ăn với “Nụ cười” trong chén “Bao dung”.

Oops...sorry! that wasn't the Mứt Dừa recipe but it's sure is a wonderful recipe isn't it? There is a few more recipes that I wanted to make for the Year of the Dragon but time is running out. Looks like Mứt Dừa will be the last post until next year. 

Mứt Dừa wasn't on my Tet list until I saw coconuts at Bel Air. The other day, while we were at an Asian market, my younger daughter saw Mứt Dừa and wanted me to buy it for her. It seemed like all the Mứt are made in Vietnam. I hesitated to buy it as I've heard horrible stories about what goes in them. I promised that I will make Mứt Dừa for her instead.  Today, my girls and I had so much fun prepping for Mứt Dừa. They were fascinated with the whole process of extracting the pulp from the coconut. First, the juice had to be drained by poking the eyes on the coconut. Next the shell was cracked and the coconut meat was pried from the shell. They had a blast being silly by wearing those shells on the heads.

We made four different colors using the beet extract for pink, turmeric powder for yellow, pandan extract for green and the coconut in its natural form for white. My favorite are the beautiful green and white coconut ribbons. The yellow coconut is just a little too yellow and pink is not as saturated as I had hoped. But my girls couldn't stop munching on these nutty, buttery, rich coconut ribbons coated with sugar. 

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RECIPE: Mứt Dừa 

Printable recipe

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Ingredients

2 coconuts

2 cups sugar

1 bag vanilla sugar

1 tablespoon salt, for soaking the coconut ribbons

1 teaspoon beet juice, for red color, optional

(click here for natural beet coloring recipe)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder, for yellow color, optional

1/3 teaspoon pandan extract, for green color, optional 

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Preparing Coconut

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Using an oyster knife or a screw driver pierce holes in 2 of the three eyes and pour out the juice. 

You can use the coconut juice to make Thịt Trứng Kho Tàu or just drink it if it's sweet. Use a meat tenderizer or a hammer to crack the coconut open. 

Put the coconut on baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. The heat will loosen the meat from the shell. 

Remove coconut from oven. Holding it with a dish towel, use a small knife or an oyster knife to pry out the meat. Try to keep the pieces as large as possible.

Using a vegetable peeler, shave off the brown skin from the white coconut meat. Rinse the meat to remove any excess bits of brown skin. use a slicer or a sharp knife, slice or cut the meat into thin ribbons of at least 2 inches long. Keep coconut ribbons in salt and water bowl. 

Rinse and drain coconut ribbons and set aside.

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Mixing Coconut Ribbons

In a large bowl, combine coconut ribbons and the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Let it sit until sugar dissolved. If you want to make coconut ribbons in 4 different colors, divide the mixed coconut in a four separate bowls and mix the colors to your liking.

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Simmering Coconut Ribbons

In a large pan, add ribbons and bring heat to high. When the sugar starts bubbling, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes. Make sure to stir constantly to expose the ribbons evenly to the syrup. They will gradually become silvery and soften.

The ribbons will soon turn white, become dry looking and stiffen. Keep stirring. The sugar will first cling to the ribbons and then flake off in white, sandy bits. When the ribbons are covered by a dry, sandy sugar film, they are done.

Remove from the stove and let the coconut ribbons cool completely. Transfer them to an airtight container and discard the powdery sugar.

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Presentation

Enjoy candied coconut ribbons with a cup of hot tea!

Mứt Tắc (Candied Kumquats)

My mother-in-law's friend gave her a bag of home grown Kumquats. These Kumquats are beautiful as they are grown as ornamental plants. The kumquat fruit is orange and has a glistening rind; the shape can be round or oval and unlike the orange, the sweetest part is the rind. The inside is quite acidic and sour.

Since Tết (the Vietnamese Lunar New Year) is fast approaching in a couple weeks, I planned to make a few traditional dishes to celeberate Tết, the first being Mứt. Hence the arrival of these Kumquats was impeccable. Mứt is one of those dishes that can't be missed at Tết, so I decided to turn these beautiful but sour kumquats into Mứt Tắc (Candied Kumquats). 

Just like candied orange and grapefruit peel, Candied Kumquats are also easy to make. They pair well with hot green or black tea as I learned from my husband, but watch out, you will be addicted to these. The jar I just made is already gone. I guarantee you won't just try one! 

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RECIPE: Mứt Tắc 

2 pounds yellow Kumquats

(choose the ones that are bright yellow with smooth skin)

12 cups (3 liters) Water

1 1/2 tablespoons Salt

3 cups Sugar

1 teaspoon Vôi Ăn Trầu loại Trắng (White Lime Stone Paste)

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Directions

Preparing Kumquats

In a bowl, mix 6 cups of water with lime stone paste. Let it settle for a while until the water becomes clear. Transfer the clear water to another bowl. Discard the lime stone paste sediments. 

In another bowl, mix 6 cups of water with salt, set it aside.

With a pairing knife, make a few eyelet cuts into the rind of the Kumquat. 

Discard any seeds by squeezing it. Keep the juice for the simmering process later.

Soak Kumquats in salt mixture. Most of the recipes recommends peeling a thin layer of the Kumquat rind but this process is so time consuming, so I will leave this up to you to decide. 

Transfer the Kumquats to lime stone paste mixture and soak it for about an hour. The benefit of lime stone paste is to make the Kumquats shiny and translucent . Rinse with cold water. Gently squeeze the water from each kumquat.

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Simmering Kumquats

In a pot, mix sugar, Kumquats juice and Kumquats then heat over high heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about half an hour or until the kumquats become more translucent. During the simmering process, use a spoon to splash the syrup from the pot onto the Kumquats. 

Use slotted spoon to remove the Kumquats. To create flower shapes, press a Kumquat down with your thumb and index finger. Allow it air dry on a baking rack or arrange it on a baking pan and dry it in an oven, 2nd lowest rack at 200 degree for about an hour. If you have parchment paper, line a baking pan with it to prevent the syrup sticks on the baking pan.

Ăn Ngon!

Mứt Vỏ Bưởi Bọc Chocolate (Candied Grapefruit Peels Dipped in Chocolate)

 

My older daughter insisted   that the candied orange peels  should be deeped in chocolate but I didn't have any chocolate chips in my pantry.  By the time she reminded me, all the candied orange peels were gone.  As you may have guessed she wasn't very happy.  So I made a trip to the grocery store and bought a grapefruit and chocolate chips to make Candied Grapefruit Peels Dipped in Chocolate for her instead.

I really like how the grapefruit peels look. It has a great brilliant yellow; its texture fine and somewhat gritty at the same time; its zesty citrus taste is refreshing.  And once covered with syrup and coated in superfine sugar, they're irresistable. 

My daughters and I had so much fun drizzling and dipping chocolate on each of the grapefruit peel.  We decorated these candied grapefruit peels with the frosted cranberries that we made last night.  This ensemble is almost too beautiful, but I couldn't resist . . . yum. 

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