Mother's Holiday Cinnamon Apples

 

Every holiday, my Mom would cook a feast.  Part of that feast would always be these delicious cinnamon apples.  I had my sister send me this recipe in 2003 and have making them ever since.

 

Here’s what she sent:

 

Mother’s Apple Recipe

 

Core and pare 4-6 apples in halves. (Mother told me to use Red Delicious although she didn’t write that in the recipe.)  Dissolve a 5 oz package of cinnamon candies, ½ cup sugar, and 1½ cups water.  When syrup begins to boil, add apples and simmer until apples are tender and pink.  Chill until served.

 

Then she added this comment:

 

I have made these 3 times.  The first time, they cooked to mush.  Mother said I cooked them too slow and didn’t use the right kind of apples.  The 2^nd time, they were not pink all the way through.  Mother said I cooked them too fast (too high heat.)  The 3^rd time, I decided to just eat them when Mother makes them.  Haha!

 

Since then, I have played with the recipe until I got it the way I want it.  Here’s how I changed the recipe.

 

Ron’s Red Hot Apples

 

Core and pare 4 large or 6 medium red delicious apples.

Dissolve 9 oz package red hots (cinnamon candies) with 1 cup sugar and 3 cups water.

When all candy is dissolved, the mixture will be boiling.  Turn down heat to a low boil.  Add apple halves.

Simmer uncovered for 60 minutes, turning every fifteen minutes.

Put apples along with juice into bowl, cover and let sit at least three hours before serving.

 

I think letting them sit in the fridge overnight after cooking is even better.

 

 

Sometimes I like to slice them instead of halves.  I’ve also done this leaving the skin on. Slices cook a little faster, 35-45 minutes.  You want the apples to have a translucent look.

 

Sometimes, I served these with a spoon full of cottage cheese.

I’ve also used them as dessert with vanilla ice cream.

 

They are so good!  I think you’ll enjoy them.

Stuffing

Stuffing goes great with anything.  Pork, Chicken, Turkey, and yes, even beef.  Many use a boxed stuffing and we have too.  Ya know what, it ain't that bad, but when we want some good home cookin' our way......   So, try this!

9 slices (half loaf) Bread
6 Tblspn Butter or margarine
1/2 chopped  (about a 1/2 cup) Onion
3 ribs Celery
1 tspn Poultry Seasoning
1/2 tspn each Salt and Pepper
1 can (3.8 oz) Black Olives
1 can (10 1/2 oz) Chicken Broth

What you're gonna want to do is dry the bread.  I cut it into pieces, spread over a baking sheet and cook about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Comes out like toast. 

Grab a pan like a dutch oven or a big skillet and melt your butter, then add everything else.  Stir it up real good. 
Then transfer it to a baking dish and bake 350 for 30-40 minutes.

If you're gonna stuff a chicken turkey, pork chops, or a roast, skip the baking.  It'll cook up with the meat.  If you find it still comes out too soft for you, bake half way then stuff.  Like we always say, experiment 'til it's your recipe.

Here's a neat trick for celery.  If it's kinda wimpy, you can crisp it up by putting the ribs in a glass of cold water in the fridge for a couple hours.  If you're in a hurry, ice it down.

That brings up why we started cooking our own dressing to start with.  Being only the two of us, we were finding that a loaf of bread would get stale before we could finish it.  We would either throw it away or feed the birds.  Same with the celery, we only use a few ribs from a stalk and maybe eat a few raw, but we'd end up throwing some away.  So waste not, want not, right?

If you use fresh parsley, you'll find the same thing happening.  You can add some to the stuffing.  I wouldn't add more than a quarter cup.

Now my parents and my sister make a mean Stuffed Rolled Round Steak.  Man it's delicious!  There is some differences in the stuffing though.  Substitute stuffed green olives for the black and add some mushrooms (canned or fresh).  Skip the poultry seasoning and the chicken stock.  They roll it up jelly roll style inside a round steak, secure with a toothpick, skewer, or cooking string.  Mix 3/4 stick melted butter with some nice red wine and pour over the round steak. Bake 350 for 1 1/2 hours.

Now if you're doubling this recipe, you can substitute water for the second can of broth. 

Now, to help make this recipe your very own here's some things I've done from time to time and it still comes out good.  Substitute beef broth for the chicken broth.  Sometimes, I stuff an Italian meat loaf, so I add a little basil and some oregano. I've added Parmesan cheese.  And, don't forget the fruit, like in my apple stuffed pork chop recipe.

I use brown onion but have substituted white or red, and chopped green onions.  Many people throw in some oysters at Christmas and I've added lobster and crab.  So there's many possibilities. 

Have fun with it!

Cherry Coke Jello

20 oz can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup water
2 small packages cherry jello
1 can cherry pie filling (Comstock)
3/4 cup Coke (regular cola)

Drain pineapple saving juice.
Add the water to the juice and bring to boil and dissolve the two packages of jello.
Stir in the pie filling and the Coke.
Allow to thicken in fridge (about a half hour) then stir in the pineapple.
Return to fridge and let set a couple hours.
Eat!

My sister sent me this recipe in 2006.  She told me it was fantastic and I should try it right away.  She said I''ll love it.  Six years later my wife found the recipe and said "Are we ever gonna try this?"  So, we made it.  I wish we'd have tried it the day we got it.  It's that good!  Very rich and oh so yummy!
I hope you like it, too!  Enjoy!

Seafood  Salad

 

 

In the late 80’s, my wife and I would go to Las Vegas with friends on a regular basis.  Back then you could eat at a buffett in almost every casino for practically nothing.  These days, even with a coupon, it’ll run ya $30-$45 per person for dinner on a weekend.  Even so, we still do it.  One of the dishes I always go for in the salad section is the crab salad.  Sometimes they’ll have a shrimp salad.  And best yet, they sometimes have lobster salad. I’ve even seen a combination they call a seafood salad.  Mmmmmmm! It’s so good and so simple.  Here’s the recipe I use at home:

 

 Seafood Salad

 

1 lb imitation crab, shrimp, lobster or a combination

1 small  jar (2-4 oz) pimento

1 small can 2.25 oz sliced black olives

2 stalks celery (chopped)

Miracle Whip (salad dressing) or mayonnaise

 

Mix all ingredients with the mayo for desired consistency.

 

Be sure to flake of dice the meat.  You don't want too big of chunks.

Some people will add green onions and sweet pickles but I don't.  Once in a while I will add a cup to a cup and a half cooked small elbow macaroni.  Hey this is starting to sound a lot like my Tuna Macaroni Salad.  It is pretty close.  I guess a little chopped green  bell pepper would probably work too.

 

It's that easy!  I hope you like it!

 

 

 

 

   

Easy Tuna Macaroni Salad

1 1/2 cups uncooked salad macaroni
1 5oz can tuna (drained)
1 stalk chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped sweet pickles
3/4 cup mayo (or salad dressing; we use Miracle Whip)
2 chopped hard boiled eggs

Cook macaroni, rinse it, and mix it all together.  Refridgerate until ready to eat.

Optional items:
chopped olives
chopped green onions
chopped bell pepper
sweet pickle relish


My wife always made this recipe without instructions.  I told her to write down the quantities for me the next time she made it.  She did it when I was out of town, so I didn't get a picture.  I'll add one next time we make it.

It's a good easy meal when you're in a hurry, and most of the stuff is usually in the kitchen cabinets/ pantry/fridge.  It's also really good for a potluck.  Add some egg slices and sprinkle the top with paprika for presentation.

Enjoy!

Little Pies
(some call them Turnovers)






Pie crust

1 cup flour
1 stick frozen butter (1/2 cup)
Mix (I use my Cuisinart)

Add 1 more cup flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons ice cold water
Pulse in food processor, scrape then pulse again

Form into ball, wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge
Let sit min. 1 hr

Cut into 4 pieces and roll each out into 8 inch circle

add 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons pie filling/ Comstock
I used cherry Comstock as filling

Apple filling recipe

2tbsp butter
2-3 apples
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tblsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp. water

fold over just a little over half, then fold and crimp edges

Egg wash
whisk one egg and wash top of pie

put three holes in top of each pie

bake 400 degrees for 30 minutes

let stand min 15 min to cool before eating

Glaze

1 ½ tablespoons butter
½ cup confectioners sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
Dash nutmeg
1 tablespoon water

Back in the early 70's, I worked in a generator shop.  Our afternoon break, we would walk across the street to a convenience store for a snack.  Wild Bill Fetters and I would both get a small Cherry Pie and a can of cola.
A few weeks ago, I had a craving for one of those pies.  I put in on the grocery list and got one. 
I opened it and my mouth was watering in anticipation.  I took that first bite.  I was so disappointed.  The crust was the same, but it had hardly any filling.
So, my craving was not satisfied.  I immediately went on the internet.  Don't you love the internet?  I checked several recipes and this is what I came up.  My craving is satisfied!

Enjoy!

Fried Chicken -or- In Search of the 11 Herbs and Spices

.

Fried chicken.  I know no one who grew up not having fried chicken as a part of the family menu.  My mother made it, usually on a Sunday.  And, who doesn’t like fried chicken.  I do know people that avoid it like the plague, since it’s fried and is loaded with fat.  But, as I tell people, I don’t work out to stay in shape.  I work out so I can eat.

As the years went by, fast food chicken seemed to take over and people quit frying their own.  Those who have never fried chicken will claim it’s just too much work.  Little do they know how easy and cheap it is. 

We  all have our favorites and those favorites usually have secret recipes.  But what happens when those restaurants disappear?  One of the best rotisserie chickens around was Kenny Rogers who completely vanished from the United States.  (see my rotisserie chicken post Jan 2012) Even Seinfeld’s characters knew how good it was.  KFC has been around most of my life, but I remember when the changed from a sage gravy to a beef gravy for their mashed potatoes.  I do love KFC chicken and their cole slaw. 

When I lived in New Orleans, I became attached to Popeye’s since there was one within walking distance of my apartment. My wife and I drove quite a ways one night to get some Popeye’s and I was so disappointed.  I don’t know if my buds had changed or they changed the recipe, or what.  I just no longer liked it. 

Knott’s Berry farm has some of the best fried chicken ever.  I don’t get out that way very often, and they closed most of their Mrs. Knott’s restaurants. 

One day I’m at a party and the main dish served was fried chicken.  It was pretty good so I asked “Where’d you buy your chicken?”  I was surprised to hear that they fried it themselves that morning.  They told me how easy it was and how much cheaper it was than fast food.  That did it for me, I had to try it. 

Luckily for me, I have an outdoor kitchen, plus I live in California, so outside cooking is the way to go.  Easier to clean up the mess and the wife doesn’t yell at you because of the mess.  I find though, that if you just clean up as you go and make an effort not to make a mess, it’s a whole lot easier. 

So the quest began.  Now, my wife had made some fried chicken a few times so she was my first resource.  She said go to the Better Homes and Garden’s cookbook.  It’s a simple recipe that ain’t bad but left me unsatisfied in the quest.  It’s simply mixing flour, paprika, salt and pepper, coating the chicken, and frying for about an hour total. 

My friend Greg and his wife Barb, took us to Knott’s.  Boy that chicken was just like I remembered.  Turns out Barb had worked there as a teenager and told me that Knott’s soaked their chicken overnight in salt water.  That process is called “brining.”  So I started brining my chicken, even for the rotisserie.  1 cup salt and a gallon of water.  Remember the salt causes the meat to absorb liquid and gives you really moist chicken.

Then I read a recipe where they too brined the chicken.  They also used an egg wash like I do for chicken fried steak.  So, now I got salt, pepper, paprika, and flour coating after a bath of milk and egg (the egg wash.)  Not bad, but still searching. 

I found a recipe saying that it’s from the internet and is Cordelia Knott’s recipe.  I have no idea if it is or Knott ( I know) but now we’re getting somewhere.  This recipe brined, then used an eggwash with buttermilk.  The flour mix had added thyme, garlic, and cayenne.  Not bad at all.  Plus, they used peanut oil for frying. 

Not long ago, I saw a tv show where Todd Wilbur, the Top Secret Recipes guy attempted to duplicate KFC.  He actually did some investigating and even used a little science.  A chemist examined a piece of KFC and declared the oil to be soybean.  Todd visited KFC and found they used a certain type of broaster so he borrowed one.  Now, I read in Colonel Sanders bio that he made that original chicken in a cast iron frying pan, but it took about 30-40 minutes and his customer base was growing like crazy.  That’s when he started using the broaster, which is a commercial pressure cooker. 

In Todd’s research, he interviewed the CEO of the company that makes the broasters and this guy tells Todd the secret is they use Black Tellicherry pepper.  Then the Colonel’s old secretary tells him the Colonel always talked about sage and savory.  Todd added MSG (Accent), salt, sage, garlic, paprika, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, and onion powder.  What he didn’t tell us on the show was how much of each. 

The tasting was a panel of KFC folks who did a blind test and all picked out the real KFC over Todd’s, but the CEO of KFC said it was the closest he’d ever seen anyone come to it.  Hmmm! 

I read a lot of “real” KFC copycat recipes.  Ron Douglas, a well known food hacker, uses some of the same but adds oregano, basil, and chili powder. 

1 teaspoon ground oregano * 1 teaspoon chili powder * 1 teaspoon ground sage * 1 teaspoon dried basil * 1 teaspoon dried marjoram * 1 teaspoon pepper * 2 teaspoons salt * 2 tablespoons paprika * 1 teaspoon onion salt  * 1 teaspoon garlic powder * 2 tablespoons Accent (an MSG-based seasoning)

 

Another guy who had a video on youtube added bay leaves,coriander, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.  What caught my attention on his was that he used a pressure cooker and while it was cooking, someone walked in the kitchen and said “Hey, it smells like KFC in here.” His youtube video is under loxdeaddog- cooking o.r. kfc chicken.  He says his recipe came from a KFC forum in the UK. 

Yet another said the secret was a buttermilk brine with salt and sugar.

 So, as you can see, there’s a lot of experimenting goin’ on.  I’ve tried some of it and so far, this is the best I’ve done.

 

Uncle Ron’s Fried Chicken (for now)

 

I used a buttermilk brine overnight for 12 hours:

3 cups milk and 3 tblspn white vinegar ( this since I didn’t have real buttermilk)

2 tblspn sugar
1/3 cup kosher salt

I used an eggwash:

1 cup milk

2 eggs

Breading:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tblspn MSG (Accent)
1 tblspn paprika
1 tspn each salt and black pepper (I didn’t have tellicherry but saw some at WalMart)
½ tspn each of garlic pwdr, onion pwdr, cayenne, marjarom, rosemary
¼ tspn each of coriander, sage, thyme, savory, and allspice (I’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout uppin’ these to ½ tspn each on the next round)

Fried 8 pieces (one whole chicken), 4 at a time in soybean oil 350F 40 minutes, turning after 20.

Just to make sure you got it, I brined the cut up pieces overnight.  I dried them with a paper towel. Heated my oil to 350 degrees.  Dipped each piece in the egg wash then coated with the flour mixture in a shaker bag, and put directly in the hot oil.  Turned after 20 minutes and removed after another twenty and let sit on a paper towel covered plate for about 10 minutes before serving.

So right now, I have 13 herbs and spices and I still don’t have it exactly right (for me), although my wife and I both agreed, it’s pretty darn good this way.

Please let me know if you have an idea to make it better, even if it’s removing ingredients.

Enjoy!

 

Note:  Sorry I didn't post any pics for this one.  I'll get some on here soon.