Archive | apple RSS feed for this section

>Homemade Apple Spice Sauce

7 Sep

>

Tomorrow night is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

Last year, I made this wonderful challah bread on Rosh Hashanah for my 60 housemates. This year I have scaled down to live in a little apartment with 2 friends, so I won’t be making 8 loaves of challah bread.

I was, however, fortunate to receive a beautiful bag of Fuji apples as a gift last week. How fitting for the Jewish New Year! Apples and honey are two big symbols for this particular holiday, meant to bring in a SWEET new year.

I chose to make a big batch of gingery-cinnamony-nutmegy applesauce. Homemade applesauce is the way to go my friends. And you can serve it in pretty wine glasses for an elegant touch. Maybe make some basic cookies as an accoutrement, or place a plate of dates on the table to eat with the applesauce. Dates could also be a great Rosh Hashanah food, sweet and satisfying!

I also like to put this homemade applesauce in my yogurt or oatmeal for a nice breakfast. Or it would go great as a sweet sauce with roast pork or chicken (I have heard that added a touch of butter to the applesauce takes it to that next level, if ya know what I mean!).


Homemade Apple Spice Sauceadapted from Allrecipes

10 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup + 1/8 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 2-inch piece of ginger, minced finely
pinch of salt

Combine everything in a saucepan or pot. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 20-30 minutes, until the apples are soft. You may have to adjust the amounts of your spices if you think it needs more. Let cool for about 5 minutes, then pour it in batches in a blender and pulse until it reaches the desired consistency (my apples were so soft it literally only took me one pulse per batch).

>Pink Pearl Apples

29 Aug

>One year ago, I bit into the most magnificent apple I have ever seen/tasted. It was pink, on the inside! Pink flesh, wow, I could not believe it. A delightful surprise to bite into.

I have since learned that this apple is called a “pink pearl.” Fitting, eh?

The season is upon us, folks: late August through mid September. So keep those eyes peeled for the next round-up of pink pearls.

Apple Tart

1 Jan


The very first thing I made with my new standing Kitchen Aid mixer was a batch of tart shell dough. I made the dough, wrapped it up, and stuck it in the freezer for “emergencies.”

I brought my dough over to Linda’s house yesterday because I thought we might want something more to play with! We rolled out the dough and placed it in a tart shell. We spread the shell with a layer of wild plum jam and then we layered apples from her apple tree in concentric circles around the tart, but first we tossed the apples with a bit of sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. We made sure not to add too much sugar because we liked the balance of the sweet crust with a nice tart apple. To top it all off, we sprinkled some raw (turbinado or demerara) sugar over the tart. This gave the tart a nice little crunch of sweetness!


I think this may be one of the best apple tarts that I have EVER tasted. Seriously. Not too sweet, but just sweet enough. The crust is perfect. And the apples are so thin and pack a punch full of flavor! Oh, and I absolutely love the combo of the wild plum jam with the apples. Mmm mmm mmm!

Now, laying your tart dough in the pan can be pretty tricky. My goal is to do it like snow white. Even after doing it over and over at work, I still have trouble. Your dough may break here and there, but the dough is pretty malleable and you can just patch things up where you need.

Sweet Tart Dough
from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food

makes enough for one 9-inch tart or six 4-inch tartlets, or 30 cookies (you can make thumbprint cookies!)

Beat together until creamy:
8 Tablespoons (1 stick)
1/3 cup sugarAdd and mix until completely combined:
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolkAdd:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

Mix well, stirring and folding, until there are no dry patches. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight until firm (you could probably just chill for 1 hour and be fine). Or, freeze. Just be sure to defrost for a few hours before ready to use.

Fun variations:
-mix 1 teaspoon of cinnamon into the flour
-substitute some of your all-purpose flour with cornmeal

Apple Tart
invented
1 Sweet Tart Dough (optional: you can pre-bake your shell for 10-12 minutes, but it is not necessary)

Wild plum jam, or any jam of your choice
Apples from Linda’s tree (or any good baking apple), peeled and sliced thinly
Cinnamon, a few pinches
Sugar, maybe 1 1/2-2 Tablespoons
Lemon juice, maybe 1 Tablespoon

Optional: raw (turbinado or demerara) sugar for finishing

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil your tart pan.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll your tart dough into a 12- inch disk. Carefully transfer to the tart pan.

2. Spread with a layer of plum jam.

3. Combine your apples, cinnamon, sugar, and lemon juice. Arrange over the dough in concentric circles.

4. Sprinkle with raw/turbinado sugar.

5. Bake for about 40-50 minutes. If your edges start to brown, cover with foil and continue baking.

6. Cool and take your gorgeous tart out of the pan. Serve warm with ice cream, coffee, or on its own.

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Newer Entries →