Ingredients: 800 ml milk, 3 tablespoons apple spread, 1 egg, cinnamon,
Heat, while stirring, 800 ml milk with 3 tablespoons apple spread, 1 egg and a pinch of cinnamon. Bring just under boiling point. Let it cool completely and pour the mixture into the ice machine. Leave the ice machine on for about 30 minutes. Scoop the soft ice in a lockable bin and put it at least 2 hours in the freezer. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 12 meatballs, 12 slices bacon, 2 tablespoons apple spread, small dash of lemon juice, 1/2 apple, coriander, water,
Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Wrap 12 meatballs with a slice bacon. Place the bacon balls in an ovenproof dish. Place the ovenproof dish about 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Meanwhile make the apple spread dip. Put in a bowl 2 tablespoons apple spread dip, a small dash of lemon juice, 1/2 peeled and very finely chopped apple, coriander and some water. Serve the bacon balls with apple spread dip. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 100 grams green beans, salt, 2 red onions, 400 grams mushrooms, parsley, 6 wraps, garlic sauce, 200 grams ham,
Number of persons: 3
Blanching 100 grams green beans in water with a little salt until al dente. Bake in hot oil 2 chopped red onions. Add the blanched beans and 400 grams sliced mushrooms. Stir fry until the mushrooms are soft. Add to taste a bit parsley. Heat meanwhile 6 wraps following pack instructions. Spread the wraps with garlic sauce and put on each wrap 2 slices of ham and beans mushroom mixture. Roll the wraps well and serve. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 4 pita breads, 1 chicken breast, 1 garlic clove, 3 spring onions, 2 tomatoes, 1 apple, 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 100 ml stock, 100 cream
Number of persons: 3
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Bake the pita breads about 4 minutes. Bake in hot oil 1 diced chicken breast golden brown. Add 1 finely chopped garlic clove, 3 spring onions sliced in rings, 2 diced tomatoes and 1 peeled and diced apple. Stir fry a few minutes. Add 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 100 ml stock and 100 ml cream. Bring to the boil briefly and then let it simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Fill the pita breads with chicken breast-apple mixture. Enjoy!
I have a new favorite food blog, Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen. Discovered when Jaden kindly commented on my Sushi photo from a few weeks back. Her posts are eye-candy and mouthwatering and informative to boot. I don’t dare compare my photos to hers (there is no comparison), but I would like to share the first of many (I’m sure) delicious recipes we’ve tried from her blog.
See the original recipe here.
What a delicious and refreshing take on lettuce wraps. You might think that apple is a strange addition, but it’s beyond perfect. And as you might know, I’m a huge fan of ground turkey.
And if you’ve never fried mung bean noodles, go out and buy some and fry them NOW. it is a life changing experience. Seriously. Just make way less than you think you’ll need, as you can see from the photo below, a little noodle becomes a lot of noodle after it’s been fried.
Seriously the most fun we’ve had in the kitchen for a long time (and believe me, we have fun).
Taylor sure got a treat this week: steak and pork in the same week. Very unusual in our kitchen. Maybe because I’ve always been biased against pork, and steak (at least the good pieces) are too expensive to eat on a regular basis. This is the reason you’ll always see more lentils and tofu on our plates than meat. That is, except for this week.
Taylor’s verdict: this is good. I shall not sway your opinion of this one way or another by saying what I thought of it. If you like pork, this is a great fall dish that’ll have your kitchen smelling delicious for the next few hours.
Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Michael Chiarello.
INGREDIENTS
For Honey Roasted Apple Sauce:
12 apples, Gravenstein or McIntosh
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt, preferably gray salt
1/3 cup honeyFor Spice Rub:
1/4 cup fennel seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup pure California chili powder
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon4 (12-ounce) center-cut pork chops
Gray salt
2 tablespoons Toasted Spice Rub, recipe follows
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup Honey Roasted Apple Sauce, recipe followsDIRECTIONS
Make apple sauce: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.Peel the apples with a vegetable peeler, remove the core and cut into 1-inch chunks, place in a large bowl. Heat a large skillet or roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter. When the butter begins to brown, add lemon juice, then add the apples and salt. Cook until the apples just begin to color, about 4 minutes. Stir in the honey. Roast the apples in the oven until soft and lightly caramelized, about 12 minutes. Fork mash for a chunky version or puree in food processor for a smoother sauce. Set aside.
Make spice rub: Toast the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a small, heavy pan over medium heat. When the fennel begins to turn light brown, add the red pepper flakes, and toss several times. Immediately turn the spice mixture out onto a plate to cool.
Put in a blender with the chili powder, salt, and cinnamon and blend until the spices are evenly ground. If you have a small spice mill or a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices, grind only the fennel, coriander, pepper, and chili flakes. Pour into a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Keep the spice mix in a glass jar in a cool, dry place, or freeze.
Note: If you have an exhaust fan over your stove, turn it on before you start toasting the spices. Be careful not to inhale the fumes once you add the red pepper flakes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Season both sides of the pork chops with salt and toasted spice rub.
Heat the oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat and sear the pork chops until golden brown, about 4 minutes on 1side and 1 minute on the other side. Place pork chops on baking sheet. Remove excess oil from skillet.
Bake the chops until just cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to a serving platter.
Over medium heat, add the wine to the skillet, stir, and reduce to 1 to 2 tablespoons; add the apple sauce and bring to a simmer. Spoon over each chop.
This sounded interesting, so we thought we’d try it. We had apples leftover from last weeks Pork that needed to be used, so why not? It was an involved recipe, to think that this guy made this for a ton of people under pressure is really unbelievable (the show Dinner Impossible on the Food Network – very entertaining if you haven’t seen it before!).
Next time… we’d cook the leeks differently. Boiling them didn’t give them much flavor. We’d sauté them first, then braise them in broth and white wine until they practically fell apart.
But the salmon was good and the apple sauce was a unique combination. A very apt meal for fall, and a great way to use up all those apples!
Makes 6 servings. Recipe from Robert Irvine.
INGREDIENTS
Apple Butter Sauce:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 apples (your choice of variety), peeled, cored and diced small
2 cups apple juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup waterCream sauce for leeks:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 onions, chopped
1 cup white wine
6 leeks, white and tender green parts only, cut into 12 pieces lengthwise and thoroughly soaked in salt water to release grit
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepperFish:
6 (8-ounce) salmon fillets
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Cayenne pepper, to taste
2 to 3 tablespoons oil
1/4 pound vermicelli, deep-fried or 2 tablespoons chopped lemon thyme, for garnishDIRECTIONS
For the apple butter sauce:
Melt butter in a saute pan and add apples, cooking over medium heat for a few minutes until they begin to soften. Add apple juice, orange juice and rice wine vinegar, cover and allow the apples to cook until very soft. Then uncover and allow liquid to reduce to about 1/3 of what you started with. Puree in a blender or food processor. Create a slurry by gradually whisking cornstarch into about 1/4 cup water and blend the slurry into the sauce. Return the sauce to the pot and allow to cook for a few minutes to thicken. Season with salt, if needed.Begin the creamed leeks while the apples are cooking.
Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat and saute onion until translucent. Deglaze the pan with wine and reduce until the liquid is almost all gone. (While you are waiting for the wine to reduce, start cooking the leeks.) Cook the leeks in simmering water until tender. Drain and set aside. When the wine has mostly evaporated, stir in the cream, season with salt and pepper, and lower heat to a simmer to allow to reduce and thicken. Strain this sauce and pour over the leeks and set aside briefly in a warm place.For the fish:
Season the salmon fillets with coarse sea salt and both peppers. Place a little oil into the saute pan and bring to smoking point (you need a hot pan in order to get a crispy outside). Cook the salmon, skin side down leaving undisturbed (no peeking) for about 5 minutes, or until the skin begins to get crispy, then turn and begin cooking for 4 minutes more. This allows the surface of the fish to “caramelize.” (You may need more time on the salmon depending on the thickness). You can, if you wish, finish the salmon in a preheated 350 degree F oven. However, DO NOT OVERCOOK THE SALMON. Once you touch the flesh and it springs back up, it’s cooked. Remember, because of carryover cooking, the fish will continue to cook after it is removed from the oven.Reheat the apple butter sauce if necessary. Place 4 lengths of the creamed leeks on one side the serving plate, with a salmon fillet on the other. Spoon apple butter sauce on the fish and garnish with lemon thyme. (Please note: In the episode, since we had the deep- fryer going, we deep-fried some vermicelli pasta for a garnish with a flourish. You can do the same or use lemon thyme.)
Another recipe discovered while ogling the images over at tastespotting…
If only potato pancakes didn’t take so long to cook, I’d make them every week. Every day even! But seeing as the act of cooking dozens of hockey-puck size pats of potatoes takes upwards of an hour and a half, we’ll save these for the rare occasions when we make the conscious decision to stand in the kitchen for that long.
That said, these were well worth the extra effort. They are a ‘twist’ on the typical latke – with leek instead of onion, and a sweet and sour compote that becomes beautifully pink.
Potato Leek Pancakes with Red Onion-Apple Compote
Makes about 15 pancakes. Recipe from Marcias Kitchen.
INGREDIENTS
Compote:
1 large Granny Smith apple
1 small red onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
splash of brandyPancakes:
3 large Idaho (russet) potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and shredded
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, trimmed, cleaned, and sliced very thin
1 egg
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2- 3/4 fresh ground black pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butterDIRECTIONS
To make compote:
Slice the onions as thin as you can, Core, but don’t peel the apple. Chop it into a small dice- about 1/4 inch.Melt the butter in a medium sauté pan. When it starts to bubble add the onions. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes until limp. Add the apples, liquids, and sugar. Continue to cook for a couple minutes until the apples start to caramelize a bit. Will keep for several days in the fridge.
To make pancakes:
Put the shredded potatoes into an (old) dish towel. Wrap and squeeze all the water out of the potatoes. Combine in a large bowl with everything but the oil and butter. Mix very well.Heat a griddle or sauté pan over med high heat and add enough oil and butter to coat the pan.
Working in batches, place small portions, about 2 tablespoons of the potato mix onto the hot griddle. Flatten the pancake with the back of a spatula. Repeat. Add more butter/oil as needed. Cook until bottom is golden, then flip.
To serve, add a little finishing salt and a grinding of pepper- then place a small dollop of the red onion-apple compote on each pancake.
German pancakes just might be one of my favorite things for breakfast. Especially in the winter. They are rich and satisfying, and fun to watch. If you’ve never made them before, don’t turn away from the oven. Right before your eyes, you’ll see the batter begin to rise and form beautiful golden peaks and valleys of puffed goodness. Almost like magic. Don’t forget to lower your oven rack, though, as the peaks can often rise to extraordinary heights, and you don’t want them to run into the top of your oven!
These pancakes are great as is, but this past weekend, we decided to make use of the beautiful bounty of fall apples available now. Think of it like a light and fluffy apple pie, that you eat for breakfast. I’m sure you could eat this for dessert as well, it actually might be more appropriate, but it is always a breakfast in my mind. It is, after all, a pancake. :)
German Pancakes with Apples
Makes 4-6 servings.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
6 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butterOptional Apple Topping
1-2 apples, of your favorite variety, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugarDIRECTIONS
Combine milk, flour, eggs, and salt in medium bowl and mix until just combined.Move oven rack down to bottom 1/3 of oven, lower if you have a small oven. Place butter in a 13×9 inch pan sprayed with cooking spray, put in oven, and preheat to 450ËšF. When butter is hot and sizzling, remove from oven and carefully pour batter into pan.
Return pan to oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown and fluffy.
Slice and serve hot with maple syrup and powdered sugar.
To make Apple variation:
Combine thinly sliced apples in bowl and toss with sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar and remaining cinnamon and set aside. Before pouring batter into hot butter, spread a thin layer of apple slices in bottom of pan (should use about 3/4 of the apples). Pour in batter, and arrange remaining apples sparingly on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Put back in oven and bake as usual.
I’ve done battle with the puff pastry. Not sure if I can claim victory or not, but these were a nice refreshing dessert (if one needs a retreat from chocolate, if that’s even possible, these are a good option). We added a bit of cinnamon to the recipe, I think it needed it, and next time might substitute brown sugar for white. Doing so probably makes these less french, but oh well.
We made half the recipe, which gave us enough puff pastry for 4 turnovers, but probably enough filling for 6 or more. So the recipe is a little ‘off’ in that regard. Though I do have to say that the filling is plenty delicious on it’s own, almost like a rustic applesauce, eaten with some vanilla ice cream, you don’t really even need the puff pastry part!
Germany Apple Turnovers
Adapted from Epicurious. Makes 8 turnovers.
INGREDIENTS
Filling:
3/4 pound Granny Smith apples
3/4 pound Golden Delicious apples
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons white or brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamonFor pastry:
1 14- to 16-ounce package all-butter frozen puff pastry (1 or 2 sheets, depending on brand), thawed
1 egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)
Superfine sugar (optional)DIRECTIONS
For filling:
Peel, core, and cut apples into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups). Place apples in medium saucepan; add 1/4 cup water, 3 tablespoons sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until apples are very tender, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Gently mash apples with fork or potato masher until mixture is very soft but still chunky. Cool completely. DO AHEAD: Filling can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
For pastry:
If using 14-ounce package (1 sheet), roll out pastry on lightly floured surface to 15-inch square. If using 16-ounce package (2 sheets), stack sheets together and roll out on lightly floured surface to 15-inch square. Cut pastry into nine 5-inch squares. Place 1 generous tablespoon filling in center of each of 8 squares (reserve remaining square for another use). Lightly brush edges of 1 pastry with beaten egg. Fold half of pastry square over filling, forming triangle. Press and pinch pastry edges with fingertips to seal tightly. Lightly brush pastry with beaten egg. Sprinkle lightly with superfine sugar, if desired. Repeat with remaining squares. Using thin, sharp knife, make 3 small slits on top of each triangle to allow steam to escape. Place triangles on prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.Bake turnovers until beginning to color, about 15 minutes. Reverse baking sheets from top to bottom. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F; continue baking until turnovers are firm and golden, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
