Caramel Corn

This is from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. If you've never done candy before, this is a great place to start because it's pretty straight forward and requires no candy thermometer. And, it's delicious! Mashasayo!

One thing you may not have at your house is corn syrup. It's fairly easy to find in Korea--I've seen it in several of the smaller grocery stores and in all of the larger ones. It's sometimes by the vinegar and sometimes by the sugar. This is what mine looks like:

Or, you can use white sugar instead of corn syrup. It makes the caramel a little grainy, but it works just fine.

Microwave popcorn is easier to find in Korea, but I prefer to use the kind that comes in a big bag with no butter or salt. To pop regular kernels in the microwave, put about 1/4 cup in a paper bag or a mesh steam bag and use your popcorn button. Or pop for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.

I've left this recipe as it is in the book, but when I'm popping the corn from kernels instead of using a microwave packet, I often round up to about 10 cups of popcorn (about 1/3 cup unpopped), 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/4 cup corn syrup. I still just use 1/4 tsp baking soda and vanilla.

I also prefer not to bake it in the oven. After stirring the caramel mixture into the popcorn, I spread it on the foil to cool and eat it like that. It's a little chewy instead of all crunchy.

So, here's the recipe:

7-8 cups popped popcorn (this is how much a regular bag of microwave popcorn makes)
3/4 c packed brown sugar
6 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp light-colored corn syrup
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp vanilla (they have this in Bangsan at the baker's market!)

1. Remove all unpopped kernels from popped popcorn. (Do this by shaking the popcorn so that the kernels fall to the bottom, then scoop the popcorn off from the top.) Put popcorn into a 17x12x2 inch baking or roasting pan. (Or a 9x13 if you're oven is the size of mine, or a big bowl if you're not going to bake it.) Keep popcorn warm in a 300 F oven while making caramel mixture. (I've never done this.)

2. For caramel mixture, in a medium saucepan combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, without stirring, for 5 minutes more.

3. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla. (The vanilla will boil and hiss and make you wonder if you've done something wrong. You haven't. I often stir in the baking soda first then the vanilla, but I don't know that it makes a difference. The baking soda will change the color of the mixture. It's kind of cool.) Pour caramel mixture over popcorn; stir gently to coat. Bake in a 300 F oven for 15 minutes. Stir mixture; bake 5 minutes more. Spread caramel corn on a large piece of buttered foil to cool. (This is one thing I use my black market baking spray for. I don't like the spray on any of my pans, but I don't like to butter foil.) Store tightly covered for 1 week. (Like it will last more than an hour, tops. Why do you think that picture only shows a little bit of popcorn?)

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

I'm not usually a dessert person but these brownies were really great! And, since it's so hard to get brownies from a box I thought it was worth a shot making my own. These were sinfully good.

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted and divided
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9 inch baking dish or two 8 inch square pans.
2. Stir together cocoa and baking soda in a large bowl; stir in 1/3 cup butter. Add boiling water; stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs, and remaining 1/3 cup butter; stir until smooth. Add flour, vanilla, and salt; blend completely. Sir in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake 35-40 minutes for rectangle pan, 30-35 minutes for square pans or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely. Frost with Buttercream Frosting. YIELD 36 brownies.

Buttercream Frosting

6 tablespoons of butter softened
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat butter in small bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk beating to spread consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Baby Food

Just wanted to share with anyone who might find this useful, I know I did. Through iHerb.com I was able to order oodles of baby food for a reasonable price. To give you an idea I ordered a variety of Gerber 1st Foods 2 pk, some organic if that's important to you, for $1.60 each. I also ordered rice cereal and organic multi-grain cereal 7 oz for under $5.00 and organic yogurt snacks for under $5.00. Shipping was under $10 (for nearly $100 worth of goods) and was delivered to my Korean address in less than a week. To me, this is well worth the price considering the time and effort it would take me to search for, let alone find these items in Seoul.

Easy Thai Chicken and Rice

I found this years ago in a parenting magazine. It's a mild dish that goes over well with the kids. If you like food with heat, add red pepper flakes or siracha sauce.

1 tbs cornstarch
1 tbs soy sauce or fish sauce
1 tbs water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 lb chicken breast tenders
4 tsp canola oil
3/4 c sliced green onions
2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 c light coconut milk
1 tbs lime juice (home plus, sarhuga, foreign markets)
2 tsp sugar

Combine cornstarch, soy sauce, water and one minced garlic clove in a shallow bowl. Toss mixture with chicken tenders, coating evenly. Heat some oil in a large skillet on medium-high. Add chicken and cook 3 minutes per side. Remove chicken from the pan. Heat remaining oil in pan and saute green onions one minute. Add the remaining garlic and ginger and cook another minute.

Return chicken to pan for 1 or 2 minutes, or until it's cooked. Stir in coconut milk, lime juice, and sugar. Cook about a minute until heated through. Serve over rice.

Fresh Spaghetti

This is a recipe from my older sister, who is a great chef, and it is my 15 year old niece's favorite dinner. All of the ingredients are fairly easy to find, except shredded parmesan cheese. I suppose you could use the powdered version, but I have noticed wedges of parmesan at both Costco and EMart lately.

1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
10 Roma tomatoes, diced (I use whatever kind of tomatoes I have around and guess how many to use)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pepper to taste (I use none)
1 pound spaghetti, broken into thirds and cooked (I use the whole 500g package. It's close enough.)
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped (If I don't have this, I use a heaping Tbsp dried basil and add it into the sauce with the tomatoes so it can simmer.)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Heat oil and butter; add tomatoes, salt, sugar, garlic powder, and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Toss together with sauce, noodles, basil, and cheeses. Serve hot.

Almond Crusted Salmon

This one comes adapted from The New Sonoma Diet Cookbook. It's quick and easy. Two of my three kids can't get enough when it's on the table. For my other son, I just make sure a piece doesn't have the breading.

1 lb salmon fillet, cut into 4 portions (I usually use the frozen salmon at Costco)
2 Tbs bread crumbs
2 tsp EVOO
2 tbs almonds, coarsely chopped (I use the sliced almonds from Costco and break them up with my hands)
1 tsp thyme,
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs olive oil

1. Season salmon with salt and pepper, set aside.
2. Combine the bread crumbs and EVOO. Mix just to coat. Add the chopped almonds and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Spread on a plate.
3. Gently press each portion of seasoned salmon into almond mixture to coat one side. Sometimes I do both sides just for fun.
4. Heat non-stick pan over medium heat. Add oil; then place fish, crumb side down, in the pan. Cook about 2 minutes or until the crumbs are golden brown. Carefully turn the fish and cook 2-4 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. I have yet to perfect the timing on how long to cook my fish since the pieces are often seem thick. Remove from pan.

Fell + Cole

If you're looking to take your ice cream consumption to a new level, I have the shop for you. Located in Hongdae not far from Hongik University main gate is a shop called Fell + Cole. The ice cream flavors vary each day but always a fun experience for your taste buds. The ice cream is made in small batches, local and as close to organic as you can find in Korea. My husband and I have visited frequently and are never disappointed with our experience.

To check the flavors of the day visit the Facebook Page or twitter. As for directions, the websites below have maps etc. From the main gate of Hongik head south and then when you reach a 7-eleven, turn right. Then walk down a block or 2 and turn left at the Hooka Bar.  You should see Fell+Cole on your right.

Welcome ice cream season!

For more info and press:
10 Magazine
Cnngo