Al Dente

It's an Old-fashioned Halloween at Our House

The plan for the day was to make jelly apples and popcorn balls with my daughter, all before her afternoon soccer game. Surprisingly enough, that's just what happened.

We popped three batches of popcorn, mixed them with Paula Deen's sugar syrup, and then with buttered hands turned them into popcorn balls.

My daughter loves to measure, pour and stir, but once the candy syrup began to boil, I kept her a few arms lengths from from the bubbling sugar syrup on the stove.

Without a candy thermometer, we had to use a cup of cold water to check the syrup and she got the chance to see how the sugar water became molten syrup in stages, from soft ball to firm ball to hard ball. 

We went through a similar drill for the candy apples, and soon enough, we had a dozen of both--the makings of an old-fashioned All Hallows' Eve.

Popcorn Balls

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-1/3 cups water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1.In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water, syrup, vinegar, and salt. Cook over high heat until mixture reaches 255 degrees F (hard-ball stage) on a candy thermometer. Stir in vanilla.

2. Pour over popped corn, tossing gently to coat. When mixture is cool enough to handle, press popcorn into 3-inch balls with lightly greased hands. Cool completely on waxed paper.

Makes 14 popcorn balls

Popcorn Balls, Paula Deen

--Tracy Schneider

Candy: A Halloween Love Story

It was a toss-off question I posed on Twitter a couple of days ago: What's your favorite low-brow candy?

I 'fessed up to keeping Junior Mints in my freezer, a habit I picked up, oddly enough, while watching "Julie & Julia" this summer at a theater that sold those movie house staples frozen. It makes the mint even more refreshing.

Almost instantly, this silly query prompted all sorts of funny feedback. I heard from folks who have a thing for Butterfinger, Rolos, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Coffee Crisp. Though, Coffee Crisp doesn't seem exactly low-brow because it is imported. From Canada.

I had to laugh when one Twitter buddy in San Francisco said she immediately headed out to the corner store, in search of Junior Mints. There were only York Peppermint Patties. Close, but not what she was suddenly craving. "I'm so suggestible," she Tweeted.

The good, sweet fun slopped over to my Facebook page, where another roar of approval for good/bad candy was heard. Candy Corn was a huge hit, especially when paired with peanuts. One comment, though, had me laughing out loud and groaning at the same time. Chef Bill Smith gleefully spilled his guilty pleasure: Those marshmallows shaped like circus peanuts paired with mayo. As the old saying goes, don't knock it until you've tried it. So, I'm officially not knocking it.

Anybody think they can top that? How about piling on and adding your favorite treat?

-- Leslie Kelly

Arancini: Another Reason to Move to Italy

Every time I think of moving to Italy (which is, honestly, once a day at the least and once an hour on the average) I realize that I’d never be able to come back. Not because I wouldn’t miss everyone at the Al Dente HQ, but because I would eat so much when there that I wouldn’t be able to get out of a door. Okay, that’s somewhat of a joke, but really, I keep discovering new Italian favorites that I think I might just over-indulge in if there all the time. For example, arancini, the tasty and resourceful creation named after the orange that uses leftover risotto in a delicious fashion, mixing it with cheese and other ingredients and then frying it (this recipe on About.com is for mushroom arancini, for example, but many have various meats as well) into a ball--sometimes a very round ball, and sometimes a little pointed as in the below. Absolutely yummy, and again, one of those dishes that I haven’t found quite right yet anywhere outside of Italy, where I had them for the first time about 4 months ago. Though I’d be happy to hear about worthy members of the species anyone has had outside of Italy, I’ve now added arancini to my list of edible reasons why I should, really, move to Italy.

 

--A.J. Rathbun

Bar Snacks: Japanese Arare

Instead of traditional bars snacks, why not surprise your next guests, whether expected or not, with something other than a bowl of chips with that glass of wine?

Arare or Japanese rice crackers make a great alternative. With a bag or two of arare in the cupboard, you're ready to entertain at a moment's notice. Some people stock their favorite arare, but I like to serve a variety. Their shapes, textures and flavors are so unusual. 

See if you can pick out Nori (seaweed) wrapped arare, twisted Yakko arare, flower-shaped Sakura arare and of course, those ubiquitous Wasabi peas.

If you're an arare fan, what are your favorites?

--Tracy Schneider

Shaved Ice: The Finale with Hawaiian Shave Ice

You many think of shaved ice as a relatively modern invention, only available since modern refrigeration, but the fact is, ice harvesting is centuries old, and so too is the eating of icy confections, especially on the hottest of days in the hottest of places.

The story of ice so piqued the interest of the great English food writer Elizabeth David that she spent 20 years researching its history. Harvest of the Cold Months: The Social History of Ice and Ices is the fascinating result, though David died before her award-winning book was actually completed. 

This summer, my research into the history of ice required only a long spoon and a big appetite. I've traveled around Asia by way of the shaved ice treats I've eaten in New York, Washington, D.C. and Seattle.

My last "stop" is Hawaii, where shaved ice is called "shave ice" and and the flavors and toppings are as diverse as any I've seen this summer.

Hawaiian shave ice is no snow cone! The ice is incredibly fine, and the flavor selection can be as deliciously sophisticated as passion fruit and pineapple or as crazily juvenile as Blue Hawaii and bubble gum. I have it on the best authority that the best way to eat shave ice is with ice cream and azuki beans, topped with condensed milk (called a snow cap) and sprinkled with Li Hing Mui powder, made from salty-sweet dried plum. 

I stopped at North Shore Hawaiian BBQ in Seattle's International District today for a traditional plate lunch and finished with a shave ice. It was a great way to end the meal and my shaved ice journey. Check out the eight other versions I sampled this summer and share your favorite shaved ice hangouts with me.

Filipino Halo-halo

Japanese Kakigori

Malaysian ABC

Thai Nam Kang Sai

Korean Bingsoo

Chinese Baobing

Vietnamese Che Bau Mau

Indonesian Es Cendol

--Tracy Schneider

Too Many Tomatoes? Time for Terry's Bruschetta!

Our friend Terry makes the best bruschetta (brew-sket-ta) ever. Her classic recipe calls for lightly grilled bread brushed with garlic and is topped with a tomato and basil mixture. Everyone asks Terry for it (even my sister!), and no one can believe how easy it is to make.

The key to great bruschetta, Terry says, is to use good, extra virgin olive oil. The topping is prepared in advance, and the only trick to the dish is to put the tomato mixture over the bread just before it’s to be served. After fifteen or twenty minutes, the bread becomes mushy.

Even straight out of the kitchen, this is one messy appetizer and apt to spill all over your guests’ laps. So my tip for this recipe: Always serve Terry’s bruschetta with plenty of napkins!

Terry’s Bruschetta

Ingredients:
5 medium tomatoes, very ripe
Salt
10-12 leaves fresh basil
1 tablespoon capers (optional)
3/4 cup non-filtered extra virgin olive oil

Slightly stale bread, toasted
Two or three cloves garlic, peeled

Directions:
1. Dice tomatoes and put in colander to drain. Spread tomatoes in colander and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Continue to drain 30 minutes to an hour.

2. Grill bread in an oven or toaster oven. Brush raw garlic over each piece.

3. Squeeze tomatoes with your hands, one handful at a time, and put in a large bowl. Finely chop basil and mix it with the tomatoes. Stir in capers if you are using them. Add 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. (Don’t skimp on the olive oil. If you tip the bowl slightly, you should see some oil gather at the bottom.) Add salt to taste.

4. Spoon tomato mixture over grilled bread immediately before serving.

--Tracy Schneider

Kitty Bento Box: Too Cute to Eat?

While I enjoy cuteness in foods as much as the next happy eater, I tend to think of cuteness as being more the territory of dessert foods (Spanno’s Wild Things cupcakes for example). In that situation, the sweetness of it all seems to work well, and it doesn’t seem odd to open up and start eating. But the following kitten bento box (which I found on What’s For Dinner) is as cute as rice-y buttons--I think, perhaps, too cute. The way it’s laying on its back with seaweed eyes closed and paws outstretched, and how it seems to be smiling and waiting for a little belly scratch, all make me think I might be unable to take that first bite (unlike the cute bento box of cat heads Kitchen Maus highlighted earlier, which seems more approachable in its just-heads nature). Not to mention that I’m not sure what the pink parts might be made of, and that the food around it looks unreal somehow. This wavering leads to the question: is this kitten personification taking cute-i-fying food a little too far? Should this be considered more art than lunch? And if you opened up your own bento box (say this one from Zojirushi, which is the one I have) without knowing this would be in there waiting, would it make you hungry, make you miss your own pets, or just seem a little off? I’m wavering, but, then again, I’m really a dog person.

--A.J. Rathbun

Zucchini Weenie: Intriguing Fair Fusion or Just Odd?

Summer fairs (state, county, and city) are not only places to view award-winning livestock, ride the Tilt-a-Whirl, and get taken by carnies. They’re also where you can find the most inventive and outrageous fried food in the world. With that, I expect a certain amount of deep-fired craziness when walking onto a fair grounds: deep-fried Oreos, for example, or deep-fried corn on the cob. Deep-fried ice cream and deep-fried pizza almost seem quaint these days. But never, until recently reading an article on Wral.com, had I heard of the deep-fried zucchini weenie. Featured at the OC Super Fair, it is (seriously) a hot dog stuffed inside a zucchini  that’s then battered and deep fried. To me, that’s just wrong. Wrong! For one, how did they hollow out that zucchini? For two, do hot dog lovers and zucchini lovers really belong together? Take a look at the below photo (from Flikr) and tell me: does that look appealing to you?. Okay, maybe a little. But it’s still an abomination of nature. Even though, now, maybe, I want to try one.

--A.J. Rathbun

Pie Lollipops

Love pie but hate its un-portability? Leave it to the folks at Luxirare to give us lollipop-pies. Not only do they look delicious, but the accompanying photography that shows the lolli-pie-making process is really neat. Yum!

 

--AndreaLeigh

Why Oh Why Isn’t the Aero Bubbly Chocolate Bar in the U.S.?

Pal and co-worker Jeff B recently took a little vacation up north (north of Seattle that is) to celebrate the Canadian Civic Holiday (why don’t we have a civic holiday in August by the way? It’s a great idea) and brought back a heaping helping of Canadian candy and candy bars to share. There were Coffee Crisps, KitKat Chunkies, Cadbury Flake bars, and more, but what I grabbed was a Nestle Aero bar. As we don’t have them easily available here in the states, I haven’t had an Aero bar that many times. However, every time I have had one has been memorable, because the Aero bar is super-delicious. Made of air bubbles and chocolate (the slogan is “feel the bubbles melt”), it’s lighter in personality than many candy bars while still retaining a smooth chocolate taste--eating one is like snacking on a heavenly chocolate cloud or like floating weightless in a much sweeter outer space. There are a couple of different flavors, including the mint version I’m eating right now, and all share this lovely consistency and chocolaty charm. Now, I’m also a big fan of the Canadian KitKat (why is it better? Not sure. Just is), and the other delicacies mentioned above, but the Aero is tops for me today. Which leads to one question: why can’t we have it available here at every corner candy store? Why is there this embargo on specific candies? Is there anyone else who has a favorite candy from another country they wish was more readily available? And should we write a chocolate-smudged petition to the major candy companies? Start a candy revolution?

--A.J. Rathbun