Candy Caramel Corn for All Hallows' Eve

I've been busy preparing for our All Hallows' Eve/All Saints Party this year.   In the past I have always helped organize one with a local homeschool group, but this year we are looking forward to having just family and close friends over to our home for a party!

One of the activities I have planned for the children is a Saintly Symbols Scavenger Hunt, and I've been working on making treat bags, filled with homemade Caramel Corn mixed with Candy Corn, to use as prizes for this game.   They were so easy to make and I thought they turned out cute.  

C andy Caramel Corn Recipe

2 1/2 qts. Popped Corn
1/4 c. Corn Syrup
1/2 c. Brown Sugar
1/2 c. Butter
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1 t. Vanilla
2 cups Candy Corn

Cook syrup, brown sugar, butter, and salt in microwave, on high for 2 minutes, stirring once after a minute. Add baking soda and vanilla. Stir well. Place popcorn in a large brown bag; pour syrup mixture over popcorn, stir a with wooden spoon. Roll up top of bag and put in microwave. Cook on high for 1 minute. Shake and repeat 2 more times for 30 seconds each. Add Candy Corn.

I made four batches and ended up with 3 dozen treat bags.

I filled each bag with about 1-2 cups of Caramel Corn and tied it shut with some green ribbon and a tag (a modified version of the tags I made for our Patron of Students Back-to-School Treat) that reads:

These earthly treats will pass away.  

Lay store your treasure in heaven.  

You can download and print the tags here, 

which could really be used on any sort of treat bag! 

Prawn Capsicum and Chilli Pizza

Pizza is an oven-baked, flat and usually disc-shaped bread typically topped with tomato sauce, shredded cheese and various toppings such as seafood, beef, chicken, capsicum, ham, olive and etc. Here we made a rectangle shape lemon scented pizza base top with succulent juicy shrimps, grated mozzarella cheese and lovely chopped fresh basil.

PRAWN CAPSICUM AND CHILLI PIZZA

Since these few days we are experiencing cold rainy evenings we decided to make something simple and yet hearty to fill our hungry stomach. So together with my boy we made this Prawn, Capsicum and Chilli Pizza using our homemade pizza dough. And in order to make a tangy pizza base to enhance the flavour of the shrimps, I have added some lemon zest and juice to make the pizza dough.

(serves: 2-4 | Preparation: 90 minutes | Cooking: 15 - 18 minutes)

Basic Pizza Dough: make 2 (30cm) base
7g Instant Active Dry Yeast
190ml Lukewarm Water
1 Teaspoon Caster Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 1/2 Cups Plain Flour
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
Zest of 1 Lemon
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice, optional

Method:-

1. Combine yeast, sugar, salt and lukewarm water in a measuring cup/bowl. Stand in a warm place for 10 minutes or until mixture is foamy.

2. Place flour in a large mixing bowl together with lemon zest. Make a well in centre, add in yeast mixture and stir until dough comes together.

3. Next stir in olive oil and lemon juice till it form a dough. Knead dough on a lightly-floured surface for 5 - 7 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

4. Place dough in a large, oiled bowl. Cover and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

5. Using your fist, punch down centre of dough and knead for another 30 seconds and divide the dough into half.

Ingredients For Pizza:
1 Portion of Pizza Base, see recipe above
1/4 Cup Tomato Paste Sauce
1/4 Cup Grated Tasty Cheese
1/4 Cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 Red and Green Capsicum, thinly sliced
8 Medium Prawns, shell removed
1/4 Teaspoon Dried Chilli Flakes
Some Shredded Fresh Basil Leaves
*Polenta(cornmeal), optional

Method:-

1.Roll dough flat to 30 cm round pizza base or 9" x 7" rectangle and place base on greased baking tray. (I greased the baking tray with olive oil and dust with some polenta(cornmeal) to give the pizza base an extra crunchy texture)

2. Spread base with tomato pasta sauce and top with half the cheese mixture.

3. Next evenly scatter the capsicum, prawns, basil, chilli and remaining cheese on top.

4. Bake in preheated 200 Degree Celsius oven for 15 - 18 minutes or until base is crisp and cheese melted. Serve.

If you have no time to prepare the fresh pizza dough you could also replace it with those ready-made pizza dough, baguette or tortilla to act your desire base. I am sure you and your family would enjoy this quick and easy pizza with some fresh salad greens or hot pipping soup(some western cream soup recipe HERE). Till then have a great weekend ahead.

The 2011 Saint-O-Lantern Link Up!

A common activity for families, in preparation for All Hallows' Eve, is carving Pumpkins. We have found this to be yet another wonderful opportunity to tie in our Catholic Faith. Every year our children look forward to choosing a pumpkin and carving their "Saint-O-Lantern!"

In addition to all the pictures which can be found in the archives, here are some links to templates found online to help get you started with creating your own "Saint-O-Lanterns:"

For the "IHS" pumpkin that we carved, which is pictured above, and you can download the template I created here.

Pumpkin Glow offers a number of free templates including:

• Noah's Ark (Level 1- Easy) 
• White Dove (Level 1 - Easy) 
• Let the Children Come Unto Me (Level 2 - Intermediate) 
• Gethsemane (Level 2 - Intermediate) 
• Nativity (Level 3 - Advanced) 
• The Last Supper (Level 3 - Advanced) 

Another great source is Squidoo's Christian Pumpkin Carving Page.

Also free, from American Life League, is the Pro-Life Pumpkin Template.

My family has enjoyed carving the Pro-Life Pumpkin the past two years! 

For a small fee you can purchase a number of "Have Faith" templates from the Pumpkin Lady.  A couple years ago we carved the One Nation Under God and Mother and Child.

Last year we carved The Yellow Rose in honor of St. Therese and my boys carved a Knight in honor of St. George.

Some other ideas would include the new "Three Blind Mice" (perfect for St. Martin de Porres) and the Scallop Shell (for St. James - which is on our list of possibilities for this year!).  Also be sure to browse through the various entries in last years link up, as well as the Pro-Life Pumpkins at American Life League!

Other ideas for celebrating the feast of All Saints can be found over at Shower of Roses (scroll down to the bottom of post) and in these All Saints Link Ups, as well as in the archives under the labels for All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

If you carve a Saint-O-Lantern this year, we'd love to see it!

To Add Your Post:

1. Create a post about your Saint-O-Lanterns.
2. Using the Mr. Linky below, enter the exact link to your post.
3. Link your post back to this post. (Please feel free to include the Saint-O-Lantern Button!)
4. Be sure to visit the links and check out everyone's Saint-O-Lanterns!
5. The linky will be open through November 2nd.
6.  If you would like to share a picture but do not have a blog, please email it to catholiccuisine[at]gmail[dot]com and I will either post it here at Catholic Cuisine or on our Facebook Page.  

Soul Cakes: The Original Halloween "Treat"

The following recipe was submitted by Lisa, from Catholic Missionary Family. Thank you Lisa!

During the Middle Ages in England, on the night before All Saints Day, or Hallowmas, pesants and children called "soulers" would go about town singing and praying for the souls of the dead. They would stop at homes and beg for a "soul cake" and promise in return to pray for the household's deceased family members to be released from purgatory. If homeowners did not give out cakes it was believed their home would be cursed. And this my friends is thought to be the origination of trick or treating.

There are many recipes for soul cakes from a small round cake to a doughnut shaped treat. Some variations include cutting a cross on the top or adding rasins. It seems that the recipes developed over time and region.

Because my children need more sugar from October 31st to November 2nd, we made our own soul cakes today. I'm hoping someone comes by singing the traditional song:

Soul, Soul, a soul cake!
I pray thee, good missus, a soul cake!
One for Peter, two for Paul,
three for Him what made us all!
Soul Cake, soul cake, please good missus, a soul cake.
An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry, any good thing to make us all merry.
One for Peter, two for Paul, & three for Him who made us all.

Chances are if I try to hand one out people will quietly usher their children to the next house and later report me to the police, so perhaps I'll just stick with taking them to our churches All Souls Day party.

If you are looking for a festive treat to make on All Souls Day these are a delicious little treat. They are a bit like a spiced shortbread cookie, not really fluffy cake like.

I decided to go with a traditional recipe from food.com, but I'll still post the full instructions with pictures for you below, as I made a few changes as I went.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
3 3/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon allspice
2 eggs
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
6 tablespoons milk
powdered sugar, to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1. Using a pastry blender cut 1 c. of butter into 3 3/4 cups of flour. I bought my first pastry blender just for this occasion.

2. Blend in the sugar, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon and allspice. Allspice smells like Christmas.

3. In a separate bowl beat eggs, vinegar and milk together. I would like to add a little shout out here to my amazing mother-in-law, who is always gifting me with amazing things for my kitchen, like these awesome Pyrex measuring cups, Thanks!

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix.

5. Kneed thoroughly to form a stiff dough. You really have to work this dough, I thought there was no way it was moist enough, but once I mashed it all up it was just right.

6. Roll out to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut out 3 inch circles with a cookie cutter or glass.

7. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar while still warm. I use a slotted spoon for this.

9. Eat, yummy.

You can find additional recipes for All Hallows' Eve and All Saints Day in the archives! 

{Halloween Special} Jack O' Lantern, Black Cat Pumpkin Soup, Eyeballs Fettuccine And Death By Chocolate

Halloween is the celebration typically held on 31st October each year where this date marked the end of the summer and beginning of the cold winter which was often a time of death. As usually this year you could also join in some Halloween event at some of the tourist attraction such as Universality Studios Singapore, Halloween Horror Nights(here), Sentosa Spooktacular (here), FrightFest@Singapore Flyer (here) and etc.

This is the second year (read last year post, here) I cooked Halloween theme dishes despite that we don't actually celebrate this festival. Same as last year I have cooked a creamy pumpkin soup but with fusion of Asian and Western ingredients. And for this year we have a set Dinner Menu that comes with salad, soup, pasta and dessert with Halloween theme decorated. 

JACK O' LANTERN GARDEN SALAD

To start off the Halloween Feast, you can serve your usual salad using these "Orange Cups" that are carved to resemble mini version of Jack O' Lanterns. And as for the stuffing you could choose any of your desire salad green but here I feel "mesclun" look better with their curl leaves and colours for this spooky theme. 

(serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking:  none)

Ingredients: 
4 Big Oranges
1 Packet of Mesclun Salad Leaves
2 Tablespoons Salad Dressing of Your Choice

Method:-

1. Cut 1/4 off from the top of the orange, carefully remove pulp and try not to puncture the bottoms of orange

2. Next use a fruit knife, slowly cut out the eyes, nose and mouth of the "Jack O' Lantern" from the orange. Set side and continue with the rest.

3. Toss Mesclun salad leaves with desire dressing before stuffing them into the prepared orange cups and serve as starter.

CURRY PUMPKIN SOUP
with Black Cat and Bat Cheese Toppings

This hearty and savoury soup is a perfect starter to fill your hungry as well as to calm you down after a night of fright. For your information pumpkin is a nutrient rich food in Vitamin A and E which is good for your eyes and skin too.

(serves: 2 - 3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking:  15 minutes)

Ingredients: 
500g Pumpkin, skin removed and cubes
1 Medium Brown Onion, chopped
1 Golden Delicious Apples, peeled, cored and chopped
20g Unsalted Butter
1/2 Teaspoon minced Fresh Ginger
1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder, optional
1 Tablespoon Plain Flour
1 Can(399 ml) Swanson Clear Chicken Broth
60ml Coconut Milk
Salt And Pepper
Plain yogurt/Coconut Milk for serving, optional

Method:-

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat, add onion, apples and ginger and saute until tender for about 5 minutes.

2. Sprinkle flour and curry powder over onion mixture and stir for 1 minute (stir till well mixed).

3. Next gradually whisk in chicken broth and bring it to boil before adding in the pumpkin cubes.

4. When the mixture boils again, reduce heat and cook for another 10 - 15 minutes till pumpkin soften.

5. Remove pan from heat, slowly stir in the coconut milk till well combined and set the mixture aside to cool slightly.

6. Working in two or three batches, pour soup into blender and blend until smooth (about 10 seconds).

7. Return soup to pot to rewarm and serve hot with yogurt/coconut milk and decorate it with black cat and bat cheese toppings. (place black egg sheet/seaweed cat/bat cutout on sandwich cheese before using a toothpick to trace the outline to cut the desire shape)

Surprisingly this soup taste great with hint of spices from the curry powder and slightly sweet in flavour due to the type of pumpkin(I used Australia “blue” pumpkin which is a golden flesh with fine-textured meat) use and adding of apple. Also for this creamy soup we have a swap of using Asian coconut milk instead of pouring cream to enhance the flavour.

EYEBALLS FETTUCCINE
(Spinach Fettuccine with Meatballs in Tomato Sauce)

As for Main Course we wanted something quick and yet spooky. So after some brainstorm sessions we decided to settle for this Spinach Fettuccine with Cheesy Meatballs that served with ready-made Traditional Tomato Pasta Sauce. 

(serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking:  20 minutes)

Ingredients: 
4 Servings of Spinach Fettuccine Pasta, about 375g
16 Cheesy Meatballs
1 Bottle(397g) Prego Traditional Tomato Pasta Sauce
1 Packet Baby Asparagus
Some Red Capsicum
4 Hard Boiled Egg, half
Some Black Olive, cut into rings

Method:-

1. Cook pasta in large saucepan of boiling water until tender, drain and divide among serving plates.

2. Bring some water (lightly season it with some olive oil and salt) to boil in a pan, blanch asparagus in boiling water for 10 seconds then refresh it in cold water.

3. Drain well and decorate it with some red capsicum cubes to resemble "green fingers with red nails". Arrange them into the cooked fettuccine. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, fry meatballs in a frying pan with some olive oil until slightly brown in colour.

4. Stir in tomato paste sauce and simmer over low heat for about 3 minutes. Turning the meatballs occasionally to coat the sauce.

5. When done, spoon mixture over pasta and assemble the hard-boiled egg on top to form the gruesome eyeballs.

The purpose of using "spinach" fettuccine instead of plain is to create the effect of a green hair monster to accompany the gruesome eyeballs. And in order to make it more colourful and spooky, I added some blanched asparagus decorated with red capsicum to act as the "monster fingers".   

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE
(Chocolate Trifle with Mixed Berry Yoghurt)

Finally after a hearty and delicious meal with salad, soup and pasta, here comes the dessert of the day. If you are a weight-watcher who loves chocolate, this will be a great dessert with different layers of texture starting from the crunchy biscuit crumbs base, soft and moist chocolate roll in between two layers of smooth and fragrant mixed berry yoghurt. And to make it more attractive for the Halloween theme, we have add on some crushed oreo to act as the soil together with herb and grummy worms.

(serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking:  none)

Ingredients: 
300g Mixed Berry Yogurt
8 Oreo Cookies, cream removed and finely crushed
4 Slices of Chocolate Sweet Roll
8 Piece of Digestive Biscuits
Some Grummy Worms
20g Dark Chocolate, melt and cool

Method:-

1. Using melt chocolate, pipe the word "RIP" on 4 pieces of Digestive Biscuit and keep them in the fridge till ready to use.

2. Roughly crushed the remaining digestive biscuit and divide the crumbs into 4 serving glass.

3. Next top with 1 layer of chocolate roll follow by some mixed berry yogurt.

4. Repeat with 2nd layer of chocolate roll, yogurt and sprinkle the top layer evenly with fine Oreo crumbs. Keep in the fridge.

5. Before serving, top with the decorated digestive biscuit together with some grummy worms and edible flower/herbs.

This is a very flexible dessert as you can use any type of biscuit crumbs available in your pantry as well as your desire flavour of yoghurt to suit your family or guests. Here I hope with these 4 quick and easy "Tricks" on preparing the Halloween Feast you would be able to have some ideas to start off with your own Halloween "Treats" to surprise your family or guests. And if you have some interesting ideas on Halloween dishes/bakes and etc on your blog, do leave your blog link in the comment box to share it with us too!

{Giveaway plus Review} Easy Thai Cooking by Robert Danhi

Last month while lasing Bee's Easy Chinese Recipes cookbook giveaway with Tuttle Publishing, Margaret from the team suggest if I would like to review Chef Robert Danhi's cookbook on Easy Thai Cooking. (more information at www.chefdanhi.com). I was thrilled and accepted immediately because my family (especially my mum) simply loves Thai cuisines which are full of flavour and aroma.

In this post I would be sharing 3 dishes (with a complimentary recipe) which I have tried a few days back from Chef Robert's Easy Thai Cooking cookbook. From the step-by-step photos and sample recipe you can also see how easy it is to prepare some Thai-style family dishes with the help of this wonderful cookbook on hand.

GREEN MANGO AND CASHEW SALAD

Mango Salad is one of the "Must" have dish whenever we visit a Thai restaurant as it is a very appetizing salad dish that burst with tones of flavour. And while flipping through this Easy Thai Cooking cookbook, my eyes immediately set on this Green Mango and Cashew Salad.

Each bite is packed with explosions of sweet, salty and spicy taste from the herbs together with mango and roasted cashew nut that infused with hint of aromatic fresh lime juice. And not to mention you would also be delighted with the unique fragrant of the Kaffri lime leaves lingering between each bite. If mango is not available you can replace this salad with green apples, unripe papaya or even pineapples with minimum adjustment on the seasoning to match the fruits.

RED CURRY SHRIMP CAKES
Recipe from Easy Thai Cooking cookbook by Robert Danhi

Thai shrimp cake is a perfect appertizer to serve as a finger food during party or as a snack. It's very tasty and easy to prepare with many variations of similar recipes in Thailand. Here I am sharing with you Chef Robert's recipe on how to make these delicious shrimp cakes in less than 20 minutes.

(Makes: 20 pieces | Preparation: 7 minutes + chilling time | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:-

250g peeled and deveined raw shrimp, roughly chopped
2 Tablespoon Red Curry Paste
1 Large Egg
2 Teaspoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Coconut Milk
25g Chopped Long Bean/Green Beans
2 Tablespoons Roughly Chopped Thai Basil Leaves
2 Tablespoons Oil

This sauce has a combination of sweet, savory, sour and spicy taste which is great to serve as a dipping sauce for spring roll or grilled meat. It is a very simple sauce that takes only a few minutes to combine all the ingredients together. Here I used those bottled Thai Chilli sauce to mix with the rest of the ingredients to make a quick sauce instead of follow the "Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce" recipe in the cookbook.

Sweet Cilantro Sauce:
65ml Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
2 Teaspoon Chopped Coriander Leaves(cilantro)
1 Teaspoon Minced Ginger

Using a food processor to make these shrimp cakes takes just a few minutes to prepare and the results are spectacular. Chef Robert also suggest to serve these shrimp cakes on a bed of lettuce leaves and fresh Thai herbs like coriander and basil in way similar like a lettuce wrap.

Method:-

1. Prepare the Sweet Cilantro Sauce by whisking all the ingredients together in a small bowl and then set aside.

2. Spread the shrimp on a plate and chill the shrimp in the freezer for 15 minutes(this can ensures the springy texture of the shrimp cakes). Meanwhile get all your other ingredients ready.

3. Combine the chilled shrimp, red curry paste, egg, fish sauce, sugar and coconut milk in a food processor or blender. Process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl. Mix in the green beans and basil.

4. Because different brands of curry pastes have differing amounts of salt you'll want to make a sample shrimp cake first by saute 1 tablespoon of the mixture in a skillet(frying pan). Taste, and if necessary, adjust the seasoning with fish sauce and salt.

5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. First use 1 tablespoon of the oil to coat the skillet, use a measuring spoon to drop 1 tablespoon of the paste into the skillet.

6. With a damp finger, flatten the paste slightly to about 1/2" thick. Make about 10 of these shrimp patties in the skillet.

7. Cook the cakes until they are golden brown on each side and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel, make more patties from the remaining paste and cook the same way.

8. Serve with a side bowl of the Sweet Cilantro Sauce.

We all love this Spicy and flavorsome Red Curry Shrimp Cakes which is infused with a light scent of Thai bail leaving you craving for more after each bite. This is definitely a great appetizer to be served during any party or gathering with chilled beer or cocktails while catching up with some conversations. 

GRILLED LEMONGRASS CHICKEN

In the cookbook, Chef Robert mentioned that in the rural roads of the northeast Issan region of Thailand, this Grilled Lemongrass Chicken is a very common street food that can be easily found along the streets. And here he recreate this traditional dish using our modern oven/grill at home.

If you are looking for new seasoning/marinade on poultry for a BBQ gathering, this can be a NEW flavour that you won't want to miss out. The combination of Lemongrass, Coriander stems and white peppercorns will definitely sparks a new "love" for your poultry dish. And if this for party food wise you can replace the chicken thighs with chicken wing mid-joints/drumlets.

COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY

Chef Robert Danhi has spent over twenty years traveling in Thailand and wants to share everything he’s learned about Thai food. And with complimentary from Tuttle Publishing,  Cuisine Paradise is giving away a copy of this Easy Thai Cooking cookbook by Chef Robert Danhi  to 1 Lucky reader. This cookbook is selling at a retail price of S$22.00 (before GST) with 75 Family-style Dishes You can Prepare at Home in Minutes. So if you want to impressive your family or guests with these easy Thai dishes, do grab a copy of this cookbook at any of the major bookstores in Singapore or order online HERE.

To enter the draw, leave a comment on what is your favourite Thai's cuisine together with a valid email address(for easy contact if you are the winner) on the comment form and the lucky winner will be randomly chosen. And in order to increase your extra chances on winning you can also choose either 1 or ALL of the bonus below:-

~ Share this post on Tweeter. Leave 1 extra comment for this.

~ Share this post on your Facebook. Leave 1 extra comment for this.

~ Like Cuisine Paradise on Facebook. Leave 1 extra comment for this.


Closing Date for the above Giveaway will be on Friday, 21 October 2011(Noon). Result will be announce on 24 October 2011. Good luck everyone!!!! Have fun!

WINNER OF THE COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY
(updated on Monday, 24th October 2011)

Congratulations to "Yeohkristen" for winning this fabulous cookbook and thanks everyone for your participation too! Have a great week ahead everyone!

p/s: Result for the Cookbook Giveaway is out.