Apple Pie with a Crispy Top

My favorite dessert is an apple pie. It is relatively healthy compared to other sweet desserts. Also, it is so easy to make.

Ingredients
apple                                  3                      
sugar                                  3 tablespoons
cinnamon powder              2 teaspoons     
butter                                  60g

Pie dough
flour                                  1 cup                
sugar                                 2 tablespoons
salt                                    1/4 teaspoons  

1. Dice butter and keep it in a refrigerator.

2. Mix flour, sugar and salt in a food processor.

3. Add butter to the above and pulse it several times.

4. Add icy water to the above when the size of butter becomes small enough. Start with 2 tablespoons of water and increase it until the mixture has a dough-like consistency.

5. Pour the above on a tray and press it to a lump.

6. Divide the above into two pieces - 60:40. 60 goes to the bottome. 40 goes to the top.

7. Keep the above in a refrigerator after putting a plastin wrap around it.

8. Cut apples thinly.

9. Add sugar and cinnamon powder to apples. Set it aside after mixing them.

10. Bring out a dough from a refrigerator. Roll it out into a circular shape. Place it on a baking pan.

11. To make a top, roll the dough thinly into a rectangular shape. Fold it a few times and cut it like noodles.

12. Place apples on a baking pan and cover it with butter noodles.

13. Add 2 tablespoons of water to one egg yolk and beat it. Brush this on the pie top.

14. Put the pie in an oven preheated at 220 degrees for 30 minutes and lower the temperature to 180 degrees for another 30 minutes.

As you know, ingredients develop their best flavors at 120-180 degrees. However, they start to generate bad taste beyond 200 degrees. If we continue to bake the pie at 220 degrees, the pie will end up black and untasty.

Then, why did I set the initial temperature at 220 degrees? Even though it is 220, it doesn't mean that the pie is 220. Most of heat goes to evaporate water in apples and dough. It takes some 30 minutes for water in the pie to evaporate. Then, the pie dough starts to brown. This is when we lower the temperature to 180 degrees.

As our pie dough on top is very thin, it is like a biscuit...so crispy and so delicious.

The Healthiest Onion Soup in the World

An onion soup is a special and thankful food for me. When I travel abroad and have a hang-over (i.e. when there is no jjamppong or ramyeon around), I eat this. It does serve its purpose. Or when it gets cold suddenly, the soup always warms me up.

However, I never liked the crouton in the soup but loved the cheese crusted on it, which is quite a dilemma. We overeat gluten. So, I really want gluten out of this healthy soup. Moreover, I want my soup to be further alkaline-forming (a crouton is highly acid-forming). I found a perfect solution for this and it is far more delicious.

Ingredients (for 3 people)
onion                             3          
eggplant                        1
beef stock                      800ml 
gruyere cheese            

1. Cut an eggplant into thin slices. Put salt on eggplant slices and keep them in a sieve.

2. Cut onions into thin slices.

3. Pour onion slices on a pan and stir them occasionally until onion slices turn brown.

Use a stainless steel pot or pan, which gives a much better caramelization than a non-stick pan.  In case you use a non-stick pan and have a problem caramelizing, add some baking soda.

4. Add boiling beef stock to the pan and deglaze the pan. Let it boil for several minutes.

5. Cut eggplant slices into 1cm-thick strips. Weave with eggplant strips.

6. Put the above on a soup bowl with (4).

7. Sprinkle grated cheese on (6).

8. Put the soup bowl in an oven preheated at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes.

Japchae - Korean noodle with vegetables and beef

Japchae is a very delicious Korean noodle. I have never had an untasty japchae. Whoever makes it with whatever... doesn't matter. Is there any food like that?

Furthermore, it is so healthy. There are a lot of fresh vegetables. What makes it so distinguished in terms of health is the noodle, which is made of sweet potato starch. This is the only alkaline-forming noodle whereas all the other noodles are highly acidifying.

Ingredients (for 10+ people)
dried sweet potato noodle                   250g
beef                                                     300g
carrot                                                   1/2
spinach salad (Korean style)               1 head
paprika (red)                                        1/2
onion                                                    1
egg                                                       2

to season cooked sweet potato noodle
soy sauce                                             4 tablespoons
sugar                                                    2 tablespoons
sesame oil                                            2 tablespoons

1. Marinate beef with bulgogi sauce - 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic and sugar respectively and a drizzle of sesame oil.

2. Make Korean-style spinach salad - marinate with salt, minced garlic, sesame oil and sesame seeds after blanching.

3. Cut vegetables into thin strips.
 

4. Pour 1/2 of beaten eggs on a pan (on a low heat) and spread it as thinly as possible. Cut it in half to flip it over.

5. Fry vegetables and beef in the order of onions, carrot, paprika and beef.

6. Put dried noodle in boiling water for 5 minutes. Rinse it off with cold water.

7. Sprinkle sugar over an oiled pan. Add soy sauce when sugar turns brown. Place cooked noodle on the pan and stir it.

8. Put vegetables, beef and noodle in a large mixing bowl. Mix them together with sesame oil.

Bacon, eggs and cheese on a bread in one go

I would like to have bacon, eggs and cheese all together on the of a bread.

But, it is easier said than done. If we use oven to cook an egg and cheese through, the egg turns out to be like rubber. If we continue to cook on a pan, the bottom of a bread tends to is all burned. Finally, I have a solution for this.

Ingredients
bacon                            4 strips      
bread                             2 sheets
eggs                              2                
cheese                          1-2

1. Roast 4 strips of bacon on a pan.

2. Make a ring with two strips of bacon.

3. Break an egg in each bacon ring.

4. Toast a bread on the side.

5. Put the bread on top of the egg with the toasted side down.

6. Flip it over and place some cheese on top.

7. Put a lid on and wait for 40 seconds.

 

Bibimbap (rice with assorted mixtures) from a scratch

We Koreans eat bibimbap to clear up the inventory in our refrigerator. We always have some banchan - side dishes to go with rice. We make them in bulk and store these in a refrigerator for a while.

Sometimes, we are faced with the inventory issue - we keep making them and then forget to eat. Bibimbop is a great way to consume those. Also, most banchan are made of vegetables. So, bibimbap is a highly alkaline-forming food.

However, making it from a scratch (i.e. making each vegetable side dish and frying red pepper paste) is quite a time-consuming job.

Ingredients (for 3 people)
steamed rice                    300g                   
beef                                 300g
young squash                  1                          
carrot                               1
paprika, red                     1/2                      
paprika, yellow                 1/2
spinach                            1 head                
red pepper paste             5 tablespoons
egg                                  1                          
sesame oil

1. Cut beef into small pieces. Keep them in two small bowls. One will go with red pepper paste and the one will be marinated with bulgogi sauce.

2. Make a Korean spinach salad. Blanch it and squeeze water with hands. Mix it with salt, minced garlic, sesame oil and roasted sesame seeds.

3. Cut vegetables into 4-5cm long strips.

4. Fry a beaten egg on a low heat.

5. Pan-fry each vegetable separately on a low heat. Do not brown vegetables.

6. Pan-fry marinated beef.

7. Pan-fry unmarinated beef. Season it with salt and pepper. Add red pepper paste and a little bit of water. Mix all and reduce the mixture to have the right consistency.

8. Draw a draft on rice with spinach and egg strips.

9. Fill out each section with a different color.