Maple Apple Cranberry Oatmeal Crisp

In the fall, nothing beats going to the farm and getting apples, apple cider donuts, hot cider, pumpkins etc. etc. Last weekend I went to Cider Hill Farm with my nana, mom, sister and niece, four generations of the same family bobbing around the apple orchard. It's amazing we didn't end up hucking apples at each others heads by the end of the trip, just kidding, it was a truly wonderful day.

By the time I got back to the City, it was late and dark, I parked my car, got out, and promptly dropped the whole half peck of apples that I bought at the farm onto the asphalt driveway where they proceeded to roll all over the place, under my car, under cars two rows down, toward the scary patch of weeds by the fence where I'm sure rats live although I've never seen one. Did I mention it was late, and dark? I scrambled to catch them before they all rolled into places unknown or inhabited by rats. My big beautiful red apples were now scratched and bruised. When I got in the house I told CB about my apple catastrophe in the parking lot. "I'm not eating any of those apples then" was his reply. Did I mention he's a bit of a neat freak and a germophobe? I figured the only way to make sure that he ate the apples was to first peel them, thus removing any part of the apple that came in contact with the dirty asphalt driveway, and then make something that smelled so delicious with them that he couldn't resist. This is the recipe that did the trick.

Maple Apple Cranberry Oatmeal Crisp

FILLING:
6 cups peeled thinly sliced apples (about 6-8 apples)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)
1/3 cup maples syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

TOPPING:
1 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly oil a glass 8-inch square glass baking dish (or 9-inch glass pie plate)

In a large bowl toss the apple slices together with the dried cranberries, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spread evenly in the baking dish.
Prepare topping by mixing the oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt together. Add the melted butter and stir until evenly moistened. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the fruit is tender.

Let stand for 20-30 minutes before serving.

Rating = So Damn Good

This recipe is part of the Apple A Day Event organized by swissfruit. I fully believe in the apple a day mantra. I myself try to eat at least on apple a day everyday. You should too.

Ricotta Gnocchi with Pesto Cream Sauce

I've wanted to try my hand at gnocchi for a long time now. The most recent issue of Cook's Illustrated had this recipe for ricotta gnocchi among it's pages and I took it as a sign for me to finally pop my gnocchi cherry so to speak. The recipe came with a few pan sauces, but I was in the mood to make pesto, so that's what I did. I'm sure I'll try the other pan sauces some other time, especially considering one calls for fresh sage, which I just happen to have a shit load of in my herb garden.

So first for the pesto I consulted one of my favorite blogs, simply recipes and used her pesto recipe which was just fabulous. I made a double batch, filled an ice cube tray with the extra sauce and froze it for use at a later date. The ice cube tray allows me to just use a few cubes at a time depending on how much I need. Very cool.

For the pesto cream sauce I used about a half cup of the pesto and heated it in a saucepan with about 3/4 of heavy cream, and just let it simmer until I was ready to add the gnocchi to it.

I then went on to making the ricotta gnocchi which was super easy, and as you can see by the picture, came out friggin awesome.

Ricotta Gnocchi - America's Test Kitchen
1 container whole-milk ricotta (15- or 16-ounce)
2 large slices white sandwich bread , crusts removed and bread torn into quarters
1 large egg
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
Table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour , plus additional for work surface
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)

1. FOR THE GNOCCHI: Line fine-mesh strainer set over deep container or bowl with 3 paper coffee filters or triple layer of paper towels. Place ricotta in lined strainer, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, process bread in food processor until finely ground, about 10 seconds. Spread crumbs on rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry and just beginning to turn golden, about 10 minutes, stirring once during baking time. Let cool to room temperature. (You should have about 1/2 cup crumbs.)

3. Transfer drained ricotta to food processor and pulse until curds break down into fine, grainy consistency, about eight 1-second pulses. Using rubber spatula, combine ricotta, egg, basil, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in large bowl. Add flour, Parmesan, and bread crumbs; stir until well combined. Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes. Check texture of dough (see photos below) and add more flour if needed.

4. Lightly dust work surface with flour. With floured hands, roll lemon-sized piece of dough into 3/4-inch-thick rope, rolling from center of dough outward. Cut rope into 3/4-inch-long pieces and transfer to parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, dusting work surface with flour as needed.

5. TO COOK GNOCCHI: Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Reduce heat so water is simmering, then gently drop half of gnocchi into water and cook until all pieces float to surface. Continue to simmer until gnocchi are cooked through, about 2 minutes longer, adjusting heat to maintain gentle simmer. Using slotted spoon, scoop gnocchi from water, allowing excess water to drain from spoon; transfer gnocchi to skillet with sauce and cover to keep warm. Repeat cooking process with remaining gnocchi. Using rubber spatula, gently toss gnocchi with sauce until uniformly coated. Divide among warmed bowls or serving platter and serve immediately.

STEP BY STEP: Proper Dough Consistency
Gnocchi dough should be moist and slightly tacky to the touch. When the proper consistency is achieved, a few crumbs should stick to your finger. If the dough is too wet and a lot of crumbs stick to your finger, stir in additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Rating = So God Damn Good

Blackberry Basil Crumble | Animal Vegetable Miracle

I'm almost done with the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle the book that Anelise suggested I read. Its a truly wonderful book, and it has some great recipes. If you are at all interested in learning where your food comes from, and how the whole agricultural world works I suggest you pick up this book. I know - agriculture, yawn, but this book is so well written, it reads like a novel, a history lesson, and a cooking lesson, it's fabulous. It's not that I didn't have some grasp of how truly f'd up the whole government control of livestock and farms was, but this book arms you with so many facts and figures, that you just can't help but feel empowered to make better food choices after reading the book. I know really understand why local food may cost more, but why it's worth every penny to buy local.

This recipe is one of the many that are in the book, and also on the website. I'm not going to post the recipe because I'd like everyone to click the link and just mosey around the books website. The recipe can be found on the website by clicking the recipes link.

This recipe takes maybe 15 minutes to pull together and it was so good. We made five individual bowls on Friday, they were all gone by Saturday. A very unique and tasty dessert. Perfect for the summer months when blackberries and basil are in abundance. Enjoy.

Rating = So God Damn Good

Sole Wrapped Spinach

I don't think I'll ever have a problem eating fish. Maybe it's because I grew up on the north shore with the smell of salt air and ocean turns greeting me in the morning, or maybe, I'm just a hypocrite. I have a hard time eating something with legs, feet and an actual face that you can look at from the front and not have to shake from side to side to see each eye. I don't know, I've just never had a problem eating fish. They only thing that I will say is tough for me is the idea of putting a live lobster in a pot of boiling water. I don't think I'll ever be able to do that.

Anyway, I think CB was just about to drop dead if we didn't have something that wasn't vegetable or tree based for dinner. I had some small sole fillets and a box of frozen spinach in the freezer, and half an onion in the refrigerator. This is what that turned into. I defrosted and drained the spinach, diced the onion and cooked both of them in some olive oil with a little salt and pepper until the flavors had combined, about 10 minutes. I cut each sole fillet in half lengthwise because I was finding some little bones along the spine that I wanted to avoid, so I just trimmed out all the bones. I salt and peppered the sole fillets and then starting at the fat end of the fillet, piled a little bit of the spinach at the end, and then rolled it up tucking the small end of the fillet underneath. I sprinkled the rolls again with salt and pepper and cooked them in a 375 degree oven for 12 minutes.

I won't lie, they were good, but they were too subtle, they lacked something. CB suggested maybe I should have made a white wine sauce to go over the top before serving. I thought maybe I could have added a little feta cheese to the spinach mixture. Then CB said BACON, we should wrap the whole thing in BACON. People, the man absolutely does not listen to me, he has no idea what I am going through right now. I looked at him in shock, then he quickly said FREE RANGE BACON? Okay, he listens a little, but not enough.

Anyway - yes, they were good, but they needed something a little more punchy - if you have suggestions please send them along, because these were a great finger food size, perfect for cocktail parties, and I think they are quite impressive because they aren't your typical scallops wrapped in bacon or chicken wings, so I'd like to try them again.

Recipe:
4 sole fillets cut in half lengthwise
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 onion minced
salt and pepper
Olive oil

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat, add onion and cook until translucent, add spinach and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Lay fillets on a large baking sheet sprayed with olive oil spray, season with salt and pepper. Starting at the fat end of the fillet, add about a 1/2 tablespoon of the filling to the end, roll the fish over the spinach mixture all the way to the end, tucking the small end under to keep roll intact. Repeat for the rest of the fillets.

Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

Rating = So Good

Vegan Oatmeal Carrot Cake Muffins

It's that time of year, carrots, pumpkins, squash, everything orange. Orange is my favorite color, and it's not a far stretch to say that a lot of my favorite foods are orange, including the ones listed above. I've been having a craving for carrot cake, but I don't want all the fat of cake or cupcakes, so I decided to make a bread and muffin recipe that I could eat for breakfast, or top with an icing to eat as dessert at night. I took a recipe that I found on the Quaker Oats website, and made slight modifications so that it would be low fat and vegan. The icing I will say is not vegan, and it's not really low fat, I did use 1/3 less fat cream cheese, but I'm not kidding anyone, it's still fattening. The original recipe for the bread is located here the recipe below is how I modified it to be vegan and lowfat.

Vegan Oatmeal Carrot Cake Muffins
1 cup oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1/2 almond milk
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1 tbs ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tbs water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (about 3 medium)

Icing:
4-ounces regular or reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Omit to keep muffins vegan.

Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray bottom only of 12 muffin tins with cooking spray or grease lightly.

For muffins: Combine oats and milk in medium bowl; mix well. Let stand 10 minutes. Add pineapple (including juice), flax seed mixture and vanilla; mix well.

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in carrots.

Add oat mixture to dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. (Do not overmix.) Fill muffin tins to the top.

Bake 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and crust is golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely. Store tightly wrapped.

For Cream Cheese Spread: Beat together all ingredients in small bowl until smooth. Store tightly covered in refrigerator up to 3 days.

Rating = So Go Damn Good

PS. You can most definitely add 1/2 raisins or walnuts to the mix - I just didn't have any on hand so I omitted them.

Breaded Butternut Squash with Katsu Curry Sauce

First, my apologies for the fact that this picture makes this dish look unappetizing, I swear to you it tasted awesome, it just is not a very photogenic dish. Please don't let this stop you from making it, because it was great. I first had this dish at Wagamama a few weeks ago and loved it so much that I ran back to my computer after lunch and googled the dish and found the recipe for the sauce on line. The original dish I had had eggplant and butternut squash covered in panko bread crumbs and deep fried. I didn't have panko bread crumbs, so I used regular, and I wanted to keep the dish as low fat as possible, so I opted to bake the squash in the oven (I omitted the eggplant because I had a lot of squash to use up). I will let you know in advance that the recipe that I followed for the sauce make enough to feed a small army, so half the recipe if you don't want to end up freezing 32 ounces of it like I did.

Here Goes

Katsu Curry Sauce (Wagamama)
2 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, chopped
half large onion, chopped
3 Granny Smith apples, chopped
2¼ pints water
2 bananas, chopped
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp ground turmeric
½ tbsp hot curry powder
2 tbsp ketchup
15 fl oz chicken stock (I used vegetable stock)
2 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp ground black pepper

In a large saucepan, heat together the butter, garlic, onion and apple, mix together and fry briefly. Add in 1¼ pints water, then the banana, honey, turmeric, Madras powder and ketchup. Bring to the boil. Add in the stock. Mix together the remaining water with the cornflour. Add to the curry mixture with the salt and black pepper.

At this point I took the sauce cooled it a little bit and put it in a blender to mix up the bits of apple and banana that had not broken down (be very careful when doing this - hot liquid in blender = big mess if not done right)

For the Butternut Squash: I simply peeled the squash and cut it onto round disks about 1/4 inch thick. I sprayed each side of the disk with canola spray then dredged it in whole wheat flour, then into an egg/milk bath, then into the bread crumbs. I put the butternut squash on a cookie sheet that I had sprayed with canola oil and baked at 350 for 20 minutes, flipping the discs over after ten minutes.

I served the discs over a bed of white rice and then topped them with the curry sauce.

Rating = So Damn Good