Polly's Pocket Apple Pies

Driving back and forth between South Bay and Sacramento can get boring sometimes.  On the way home, I often stop by the horrid drive-thru that seems to have strategically placed itself on highway 680 up hill.  I stop to get either Coffee and French Fries or Soda and French Fries.  The last few time, I tried their Apple pies.  I thought, why not - should be easy to make it myself.  Even though it's for the conveniences, sometimes, they don't have them.  So, here it is.

2 Granny Smith apple diced.

Cooked to soften in 2 TBsp butter and 3 TBsp organic cane sugar, 1/8 tsp salt.

Make the dough: 

Apply egg wash.

Bake till golden.

Candied Pecans

I like pecans for snacking.  And this is just a bit of a change by adding brown sugar to it.

Melt brown sugar over medium low heat. Add a drop of water, if needed.  Add Cayenne Pepper or other goodies to give variety.

Spread pecans on a sheet.

Coat pecans with the melted brown sugar syrup.  Let dry.

Making TSA XIAO Meat - Grilled Pork

I wanted to try making CHAR SIU Bao at home.  But I don't like the CHAR SIU meat they make because of the added food color.  When I found the pork shoulder meat at COSTCO, I thought, I would give it a try. Here is the photo journal of the process.

I marinated the pork shoulder meat in brown sugar, soy sauce, Tonkatsu sauce, wine, and some salt.

Making the TSA XIAO Roux.

Stir fry the vegetables you want to add, if any.  These are chopped onions and bell peppers.

Chopped TSA XIAO meat

Combine Soy Sauce and Chinese Five Spices, salt, and  black pepper.

Potato starch roux.

Bring the mix to boil.

Add the potato starch roux.  Stir to cook until it becomes thick.

It is ready when roux turns transparent.

Add roux to meat and vegetable.  Combine and let cool.  It is now ready to fill the BAO dough.