Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts

17.8.15

Apple and Beet Quick Bread # Healthy Snacking


Chocolates are delicious and so are chips and they are probably the tastiest way to pacify a rumbling tummy between two meals... That and zillion cups of tea was a regular snack-ritual for me until our son was born... As in other aspects of life, motherhood completely changed my perspective on snacking soon after our little one started table food... His stomach is so little, I thought, on top of that if I let him snack on non-essentials then how will that little tummy ever have space for all the veggies and fruits that he needs... Ever since I have tried to be mindful of what goes into his tummy and into ours in general.

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9.2.15

Roasted Beet, Cherry and Apple Smoothie

Busy or not, come February 
                                   and I feel the urge to mix and blend 
create something red... 
something ....      perfect for fourteenth Feb.....


Last year the urge stretched a little beyond.. so sometime in March toddler and I blended this lovely red smoothie and I, charmed by its hue, decided to call it the V-day smoothie... just because it was red and looked so valentine-y ;-)   since February was long gone, I saved the recipe only to share it with you in good time...
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4.4.14

Visitandine # French Fridays with Dorie

Visitandine, a simple French sponge cake with a 'pure butter-and-sugar' flavor was this week's assignment for French Fridays with Dorie.  Apparently in the pastry shops in France, they are baked in madeleine molds, financier pans, small fluted tartlet pans or tins that turn out little mini muffins. Like her friend Claudine Martina, who gave her its recipe, Dorie however likes to bake hers in a pie plate and serve wedges of visitandine at teatime or layer them with jam, whipped cream and berries for a pretty and elegant dessert. In her words, this cake "is perfect plain or paired with jam, fruit, chocolate, citrus curds, cream, frosting or glaze." Taking her cue I decided to use it as a base for a caramel apple galette.. and that turned out to be quite a treat !

The recipe for Visitandine is quite similar to that of Financier. Brown the butter, add it to the mixture of flour, salt and sugar, add vanilla extract to it then stir in the egg whites which have been beaten until stiff peaks were formed. Now bake the cake in preheated oven and thats it. You are done. Though Dorie recommended baking the  cake in a springfoam, layer cake, or fluted porcelain or glass quiche pan, I baked mine in the iron skillet.


I halved the recipe and baked in my 8 inch skillet for 30 minutes. Okay. The cake had actually started pulling off from the sides after 25 minutes.. but I let it sit in the oven for 5 minutes more... just in case... The extra baking time or the iron skillet might have made the cake a little biscuit-y. My husband however liked it ... infact he loved it so much that three of its wedges disappeared instantly.

My Rustic Caramel Apple Galette with Visitandine-base

...served with spoonfuls of rum-scented pastry cream
Finally a word about the caramel apples. Well this is the first time I tried making it. Using the leftover sugar syrup from the candied lemon peel (that I made for the Julekake) was the sole motivation behind making the caramel. I know I did a clumsy job of it... but the flavors were simply awesome. The combination of citrusy sugar and sweet apples was a complete revelation ! Also pairing the cake and the caramel apples with the rum-scented pastry cream that I made from the leftover yolks from visitandine felt like a good idea. Overall this dessert was a hit in our house and we really liked it.


Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this cake. You can find the original recipe here For more such delicious recipes order your copies of Around my French Table and join the Doristas in this tasty adventure.

I shall be sharing this recipe at some of these parties.
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4.3.14

Irene's Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

The other day I wandered into this lovely book in the library... Cooking with Italian Grandmothers... from Tuscany to Sicily. As the title suggests, the book is a collection of time-honored Italian recipes by Italian Nonnas. In the foreword, Jessica Theoroux describes her book as one about women, food and listening.  As a young chef, she had spent a year travelling around Italy, learning from Italian mothers and grandmothers all about their food, culture and life in general. In her book, she dedicates a chapter to each of the twelve Italian women with whom she spent a considerable time, and shares the recipes that she learnt from them. While each story and recipe has a charm and flavor of its own, the ones I was instantly attracted to, were by Irene of Piedmontese, Bra. Her recipes looked earthy yet intriguing and her approach towards cooking and life in general resonated with the idea that I constantly try to imbibe in our life... "welcome whatever arrives, .. then listen closely and nourish well." 

One of the first dishes that I tried from Irene's menu was her Sweet 'n' Sour Red Cabbage. Apparently, "Irene is known far and wide for her wine-flavored red cabbage.." and once I tried it, I knew the reason why.  Simmered with red wine, apples and caramelized red onions, her slow cooked red cabbage is by far one of the tastiest cabbage sides I have ever tasted. 'The dish makes use of one's leftover wine', and compliments a meal of meat and/or lentils wonderfully....

Sweet 'n' Sour Red Cabbage

 Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage (Cavolo Rosso)
Recipe from Cooking with Italian Grandmothers: Recipes and Stories from Tuscany to Sicily 
Prep time: 10 minutes                     Cook time: 55 minutes                           Total time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Serves : 2


Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium sized red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 thick clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1 pound of red cabbage, shredded (I used half of a medium sized cabbage)
  • 1 small sweet apple, cut into thin wedges (I used red delicious apple)
  • ¼ cup + 2tbsps red wine
  • ½ + ⅛ tsp salt
Cooking Directions
  1. Heat the oil in a medium sized pan.
  2. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook till it softens a bit and turns golden, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, then the cabbage and apple and stir well to combine.
  4. Cook uncovered for 5 minutes until the cabbage and apple begins to caramelize.
  5. Add the red wine and salt and bring it to a simmer. Then cover the pan and stirring occasionally, cook for 45 minutes.
  6. Know that the cabbage and apple are done when they are tender through but still holding their form.

I shall be sharing this at the following parties..




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15.2.14

Hélène's All White Salad # French Fridays with Dorie

This week's assignment for the Doirstas was Hélène's All White Salad.... a mushroom, celery, apple and napa cabbage salad with mayonnaise dressing and a sprinkle of sesame seeds for garnish.

It is not very often that you come across monochromatic salads, specially in white. Driven by curiosity I had tried this one soon after I got my copy of Around My French Table. I was a little wary of the yolk in the dressing and had left it out .. Our general opinion then was that it isn't so great a salad... Both husband and I had not liked the raw after taste that the mushroom left. There were leftovers which I ate the following day and guess what, I really liked it. The chilled yogurt-olive oil-dressed mushrooms tasted so good !

Keeping that in mind, this time, I chopped all the vegetables, dressed them with a mixture of half of the yogurt and olive oil, seasoned them and chilled the dressed salad overnight before adding the mayonnaise and serving. The result was fabulous. Though slightly speckled, the chilled salad tasted fantastic and we really enjoyed it.


 Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this salad. You can find a version of the recipe here . For Dorie's original recipe and more such delicious ones order your copies of Around my French Table and join the Doristas in this tasty adventure.


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16.1.14

Apple Jam with Speculoos Spices

I think I am a little addicted to  making jams. I see fresh fruits at the fruit stand and immediately start contemplating a jam with it. Of course an apple jam had been in my mind forever.. but since apples vanish from our fruit basket in no time so I never got around making one till now. This time I got down to business as soon as the apples were home... and look what a fantastic jam I made with them. The idea of using speculoos spices came from the Dutch Apple Tart recipe which some of the Baking Partners have baked this month. Other than that the recipe was inspired by the Apple Pie Jam from Taste of Home. 


I used Red Delicious apples to make the jam.. and then added some lemon juice for flavor. You might however like to reconsider the amount of lemon juice in case you use a tart apples. But do sample this recipe out.. its too good to pass..

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11.1.14

Baked Apples filled with Fruits and Nuts
#French Fridays with Dorie

This week we were assigned to prepare Baked Apples filled with Fruits and Nuts 
for French Friday with Dorie.


I had been waiting to try this recipe for sometime and I think I got a little overboard with it. While I liked it, I wasn't overly impressed. The reason however is not the recipe...its just me. I over-complicated the flavors by mixing in raisins, prunes, dried cranberries, dates, hazelnuts and pecans. I should have kept things simple and filled up the apples with just one fruit and one nut. I thought the scoops consisting of just the baked apple and a fruit or a nut tasted lovely..  

I will probably make these again but next time a simpler and a lovelier version.... Also next time, I will tent the bowl of filled apples with a sheet of aluminium foil from the very beginning so that I do not have to bake them for that extra 30 minutes beyond the recommended 75 minutes.. 


Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about the pasta.

You can the recipe here . For this one and many such delicious recipes order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.


Shared these at Hearth and Soul Blog Hop at Zesty South Indian Kitchen.
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7.12.13

A Green Detox Smoothie...

Today we are travelling to Texas. Husband has a conference to attend, so son and I tagged along to visit my cousins who live there. With all the packing, cleaning, etc yesterday was pretty hectic. So much so that sitting down for lunch was not an option. Of course I could skip lunch altogether.. but thats not so good... right ? So I hopped over to to Swathi's,  Zesty South Indian Kitchen for inspiration .. and minutes later blended up this gem of a smoothie for myself...


Made with Baby Spinach, cucumber, orange juice, apples and pomegranate, this Green Smoothie can come in quite handy when you are looking for a quick antidote for your holiday decadence. The recipe is inspired by Swathi's Green Goddess Smothie. I did not have most of her ingredients in hand so I made a concoction of my own and was mighty pleased with the blend. I do not know why I do not make smoothies more often. They get done so quickly and if made with the correct ingredients they can be so satisfying and refreshing ... 

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16.11.13

Kiwi and Apple Jam

These days I push my luck with fruits. Husband buys relatively unripe ones in bulk and puts them on the kitchen counter to ripe. We then conveniently forget to eat the fruits and one fine day realize that we need to eat them right away or else  they go to the bin. It is then that jam recipes like this one come to rescue and brighten our days :D Though husband and I both like Kiwi, we thought it tasted even better when jammed up with apples....



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9.11.13

Compote de Pommes # French Fridays with Dorie


My son loves apples. He also loves applesauce and occasionally likes to have some with his morning toast. Toast and applesauce ? Though the combination might sound a little weird, it works for him.. So we always have a supply of Musselman's Applesauce at home. But I guess making applesauce the French way  is as easy as opening a jar of store-brought applesauce. well almost...  Just peel the apples, chop them, simmer them in a container with water, sugar, vanilla extract and some butter. 20 minutes later mash the contents and spoon out a bowl of fresh and delicious applesauce. YUMMM....


As a member of french friday's with Dorie I am not supposed to post the recipe on the blog. You can however find the recipe here. I almost used the same measures except that I used 3 tablespoonss of sugar instead of 1/4 and 1 tablespoon of butter instead of 2. For more delicious recipes order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.


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27.9.13

Homemade Apple Cider

While Apple Picking was fun, what we realized over the week was that eating the 10 lbs of apples.. raw isn't that fun.


no matter how much you like apples you cannot eat too many of them. so i looked up if i could make some cider at home. turns out you can. if you have 3 hours in hand. agreed 3 hours is a lot of time. but you really do not have to do much. just quarter the fruits and cook them with the spices and 3 hours later sip on the best apple cider ever...


  
Homemade Apple Cider 
Recipe Source: Gimme Some Oven
   
   ingredients
       
  • 10 medium sized apples (I used an assortment of  Ida Red, Mutsu and Jonamac.) 
  • 1 orange
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 4 sticks of cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp of whole cloves
  • 1 tsp whole allspice
  • 1 whole nutmeg or 1 tsp ground nutmeg (I used the latter)
  • water to cover (see notes below)
  • 1-2 tbsp molasses*
*skip molasses if you are using dark brown sugar.
   


-
 the method
  • wash the apples and oranges thoroughly and roughly cut them in quarters and place them in a large stock pot. you do not need to peel or de-seed the fruits.
  • add the whole spices and 1/2 cup of sugar to the pot, fill the pot with water till it is almost full and bring it to a boil. 
  • stirring occasionally, cook the fruits uncovered over medium heat for about an hour. 
  • if you are using molasses and/or ground nutmeg, stir them/it in at this point. then cover the pot, reduce the heat and simmer the juice for another 2 hours.
  • while the fruits are cooking, periodically mash them using a spoon or potato masher.also taste and adjust the sugar and spices.
  • when the cider is ready allow to cool. then sieve off the fruit pulp and the whole spices through a cheesecloth and serve it hot or refrigerate. 
  • be sure to heat cider before serving. it tastes best when slightly warm.
the only thing that you need to keep in mind is that the pot in which you are cooking should really be big. otherwise the end product is going to be thick and pulpy and the you'll really have to work hard to squeeze out the cider through the cheesecloth. also the yield will be less. this happened to me. so i thought i should mention it.

Sending the first two photographs of Homemade Apple Cider to "The Colour Me Photography Challenge Series" ~ Colour Me Brown, a photography event at +Priya's  place The Humpty Dumpty Kitchen. 

Also Sharing this at the following weekly parties..
Friday Food: Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes 
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12.9.13

Apple Popover # Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge

With the apple season upon us, this month Sheryl, the Lady Behind the Curtain, chose Apple and Cinnamon as the star ingredients for Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge. As always, I picked out and pinned a number of desserts that paired the two and then decided on the easiest one... Apple Popover... Being mildly sweet they make a lovely dessert when served with whipped cream or a dollop of ice-cream. they are also wonderful for breakfast with a helping of yogurt or cajeta if you feel so indulgent...


Making Popovers is a child's play... on any given day you can easily bake some up for breakfast... just as I did this morning or set it to bake while you sit for dinner and enjoy it for dessert with some ice-cream or whipped cream as we did last night.... and as you can tell it does not feel too heavy so you really do not mind having it two times in a row..

Though Popovers were traditionally made in Popover Pans, muffins pans and ramekins can be used with equal ease to make them. I always bake them in ramekins and have never had an issue with it. so far the unassuming batter has never failed me and always delivered itself... it always pops up to a beautiful golden irregular tower that tastes nice and crisp on the outside while still hot... the only thing about this popover that is different from the traditional popovers is that its exterior is a little soft and gets softer when topped with cream.. they however are delightful when you have it fresh out of the oven..


now the recipe... I adapted the Popover recipe from Vintage Kitchen Notes and used Joy of Baking as a reference. The original recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's Baking with Julia. +Paula Montenegro published it as part of Tuesdays with Dorie. from different online sources I gathered that the batter can be prepared upto 24 hours in advance.. and as +Paula mentions the popovers taste better and less eggy when made with well rested batter.


Apple Popover
Recipe  Adapted from Vintage Kitchen Notes
Prep time: 5 minutes                                                                               Cook time: 40 minutes
Total time: 45-50 minutes                                                                       Yield: 3
Ingredients

  • For the popover batter
    • 1/3 cup milk
    • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
    • 1 large egg
    • 2/3 tbsp butter, at room temperature
    • 2 tsp sugar
    • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
    • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
    • 1/8 tsp salt
  • For the apple
    • 1 delicious red apple, cored, deskinned and cut into small pieces 
    • 1/2 tbsp butter
    • 1 tbsp brown sugar
    • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
    • zest and juice of half a lemon 
    • a handful of raisins (I used oven dried red grapes)
  • melted butter for greasing the popover cups/ramekins/muffin cups
  • Whipped Cream or Ice-cream to serve (I used store bought whipped cream from Cool Whip) 
Cooking Directions
  1. Put the ingredients for the batter into the container of a blender and whirl until smooth. You can whip this by hand too as I always do and let the batter rest in the fridge overnight.
  2. When ready to make the popovers, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and grease 3 ramekins of 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup capacity.
  3. Melt the butter in a non-stick skillet.
  4. Add the sliced apple, sugar, cinnamon, zest and juice of lemon to it and saute the apple pieces till they become tender.
  5. Switching of the heat, distribute half of the cooked apple into the prepared ramekins. then pouring 1/4 cup of batter into each of them, bake the popovers in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Do not open the oven door while the popovers are baking. 
  6. Turning the heat down to 350 degrees F, bake for another 15 minutes.
  7. Now that the popovers are ready, top them with some whipped cream and the remaining half of cooked apples and serve. 
Hope you enjoyed the popovers as much as we did...and before i hop over to see what the other have prepared for the Apple-Cinnamon round of the Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge...here is a pic of the cross-section of the popover...
Now isn't that a drool-worthy rendition of the traditional Popover ! 
So much for today. See you soon. Have a good day !






I shall be sharing this with the following food events...
Friday Food: Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes 

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