Using up apples

I made apple crisp the other night, using up some apples before I buy more at this weekend's market.

I didn't really follow a recipe. I started with 6-7 apples that I peeled, cored and cut into 8ths...give or take. I tossed those with a little sugar and cinnamon and dumped them in a baking dish. I mixed the 'crisp:' oatmeal, chopped almonds, 3/4 stick of melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Toss until well mixed. Dump on top of the apples and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Delicious! The only thing missing was a little flour with the apples to help make them a little saucy instead of juicy, but it really didn't matter. Still good!

999-Salad Days

I recently saw a salad that had chicken and fennel in it. That sounded interesting, but I wanted to take it a step or two further. So I decided to make a fancy salad.

Chicken, Apple & Fennel salad with Tarragon Lemon Vinaigrette

1 cooked boneless/skinless chicken breast, sliced or pulled
1 cup sliced fennel
1 sweet, firm apple, thinly sliced
1 head green-leaf lettuce, washed & chopped
1/2 cup toasted pecans

Toss these ingredients with the vinaigrette. Enjoy.

Tarragon & Lemon Vinaigrette
1 small shallot finely diced, about 1 TB
1 TB fresh, chopped Tarragon
pinch of sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp Chardonnay vinegar
2-4 TB olive oil
salt/pepper to taste

Mix the first five ingredients together, whisk in olive oil. Season with salt & pepper.

Here are the pecans. They added a great earthy crunchiness.

The leafy greens, chopped fennel and apples!

Here's the dressing. I used a touch more olive oil, but it became super creamy. Lovely.

The final salad. It was beautiful. The tarragon was present, but subtle. It paired amazingly with with fennel. The fennel and apples also played really nice together. Overall, this was a very pleasing dinner.

"La La La I'm Helping*"

*And there's a good story here, read more at the bottom
!

But first some apple sauce

Apple Sauce

1 lb apples, cored, peeled and diced into 1 inch pieces
¼ cup water or cider
pinch of salt
½-1 cup sugar (optional, based on sweetness of apples)
Extra flavorings (optional) Vanilla, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Nutmeg

Place apples, sugar, salt and spices in a saucepan with the water or cider. Cover with a lid, bring to boil, and then let it simmer for about 10-20 minutes. The apples should be fairly soft. When the apples are soft, remove the pan from the heat, and whisk or smash the apples until they break up to your desired consistency. If the sauce is more watery, simmer for awhile longer to thicken further. That's it! Pour into clean jars, and freeze the ones you won't use right away since these don't contain any kind of additives for preservation.

PS: this recipe came from a variety of sources.

I was experimenting with the camera a bit, so here are some of the pretty apples.

*And now a good story.

We don't really know how the applesauce tastes. You see, Saturday morning I packed up a bunch of stuff and brought it out to the community market to do some demos--homemade peanut butter and a quick pizza dough. So I had flour, salt, sugar, oil, peanuts, etc... The market was fun. Chilly...I love fall! Then we packed up and headed home. Everything was put away.

Jump ahead a few hours to the making of the applesauce. Apples, lemon juice, pinch of salt, sugar, cinnamon, etc. Taste....Hmmm? Something isn't right. Seems salty. A little more sugar. Nope? That didn't fix it. A little more sugar? Nope. More cinnamon. A tiny bit of vanilla. Smelled great. Tasted a little off. Maybe it was too hot. When it was done it was poured into a bowl and into the fridge.

Dang that's salty. But I only added a pinch. Strange.

Sunday morning, J-lo's shuffling around the kitchen..."OMG I know what's wrong with the apple sauce."

He was helping put stuff away. And that was so wonderful and nice and allowed me to get to my nap sooner. But he didn't notice the difference of the between the bag of salt and the bag of sugar...they were both dumped into the sugar canister. So with each addition of sugar to the sauce, we also got another helping of salt. Perhaps as much 1/4 cup of salt! That's a lot of salt.

I do appreciate the help though! J-lo begged me not to tell this story. But it's a good story and can teach a lesson. If you need to add an ingredient back to the canister, make sure to taste and see that the right thing is going into the right canister!

You surprised...? More bacon!

Dinner...Start with sauteed pork chops!
Make a smothering accompaniment. Onions, Apples, Cider. Stir in crispy bacon bits at the end.

Top the pork chops!

And my new range...it's nice...but I have to watch so I don't hit my head on the hood. And the actual space is a little smaller, than I had, but so far I haven't had much of a problem.

* Start by cutting four bacon slices into small pieces. Fry until crispy. Pour off the fat and reserve. Put two tablespoons of fat back into pan and saute pork chops until browned and delicious.

*Add one medium yellow onion, sliced. Saute for a minute until they begin to become transluscent and start to carmelize. Season with salt and pepper.

*Add 1/2 an apple, cut into slices or small diced. Saute just until they become tart.

*Add 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, a few dashes of Worchestshire sauce and 1 tsp of grainy mustard. Stir to incorporate. Add 1/4 cup hard cider. Simmer until reduced.

*Stir the bacon bits into the onions and apples. Spoon on top of the pork chops. Delish.

Apple Bliss = Honey Crisp

I've been trying my hand at eating more fruit and veg. I'm often uninspired.

BUT...

I just inhaled a Honey Crisp apple and I think it might possibly be the apple that tempted Eve; and I can totally see why! I want another...right now. I have to wait until I get home where one sits and taunts me.

If you see these succulent beauties at your market, pick one up and give it a try!

Hot Packets! 2

It's been a year since I made the Tex-Mex Hot Packets. Those were good. This variation was alright. I tried to make these in a way that would mimic a favorite sandwich.


Tonight's Hot Packet variation is: Chicken & Cheddar with apples and red onions.


At the Footnotes Cafe in Olsson's Bookstore downtown, you can order an Edgar Allen Poe...Chicken (or turkey--can't remember) with cheddar, apples and red onions on a crusty baguette. YUM. This was alright...but nothing spectacular. I don't care for the apples...once cooked, they loose too much structure. The poppin' fresh dough doesn't have much structure either. Too buttery and flaky. Good try this time.

The Other White Meat

Tonight was another adventure into The Irish Spirit. And it was all white. White!

But tasty...

Pork Tenderloin w/Apple Cider Sauce
serves 4

2 pork tenderloins, 12 oz each
Salt & ground pepper
4 TB Irish butter (Kerrygold, baby! Maybe only 2 TB total)
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and quartered
2 TB minced shallot
1/2 tsp crumbled dried sage
1/2 cup Irish cider
1/2 cup cider vinegar (too much)
1 cup chicken stock/broth
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 TB minced flat leaf parsley

Mashed potatoes for serving.

Cut the pork into 1 inch-thick slives. Place the slices between sheets of wax paper and, with a mallet or rolling pin, pound or roll to 1/4 inch thickness. Season with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 2 TB of butter. Add the pork slices and cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Transfer to a warmed platter.

*I think this first step could use less butter, which might help put more color on the pork. I only used 1 tenderloin for the two of us. Good amount.

In the same skillet over medium heat, melt the remaining 2 TB of butter. Add the apples and saute for 2 to 3 miutes, or until the apples are lightly browned. With a slotted spoon, transfer the apples to the platter with the pork.

*Ditto this step, less butter.

In the same skillet over medium heat, add the shallots and cook for 1 minute. Add the sage, cider and vinegar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until reduced by half. Stir in the cream, pork and juices from the platter. Cook, turning the pork once or twice, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.

*Shallots smell so good when they start cooking. I would double the amount of shallots next time.

*Perhaps only 1/2 a cup of stock next time. And only 1 TB of cider vinegar.

*Adjust the cream to only 1/2 cup, max. Look at all that butter floating on the top of the sauce.

To serve, divide the pork among your plates, spoon sauce over the meat and arrange the apple slices around , and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with mashed potatoes, if desired.

*Told you. It's the whitest meal I've ever made Too white! The parsley just didn't cut the white. It was tasty, and the pork super tender. The book recommended that you serve this with mashed potatoes...TOO MUCH WHITE! And that would probably be too rich.