Cider Baked Apples

In a long, long list of favorite desserts, baked apple is way up there. Way, way up there. Practically tops! This recipe is simple and easy and I added the pecans because we love apples and pecans. You can add anything you like, the recipe is easy, simple and so good. And being the somewhat lazy cook that I am I didn't even bother to baste them, instead halfway through cooking I just turned the apples upside down and finished baking. Being not completely lazy, I served them right side up!

Cider Baked Apples with Pecans

Source: Food52, member recipe by Sally

Adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Printable Recipe

2 1/2 cups apple cider
6 Fuji apples (or any firm cooking apple)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Pour the cider into a small skillet and bring it to a boil. On medium heat, continue to boil until the liquid reduces by a little less than half. It should be somewhat syrupy, but it won't be very thick. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil out.

While the cider is reducing, peel the skin from the top third of each apple. Use a melon baller or an apple corer to dig out the core. Place the apples in a baking dish. Stuff the pecans into the apple cavities. Sprinkle some pecans in the baking dish.

Stir the cinnamon, butter and brown sugar into the cider syrup. Pour it into the apple cavities, allowing it to overflow into the baking dish. Bake the apples for 40 to 50 minutes, until they are soft and tender, but not mush. Baste the apples occasionally in the cider syrup. Add more cider if it needs more liquid. The actual cooking time will depend on the size of the apples, larger apples may take longer.

Serve the apples warm with the syrup and pecans spooned over them. It's also nice topped with ice cream, whipped cream, yogurt or a cream anglaise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joining

 Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter 

 

Tweet

Kale with Sauteed Apples and Squash

I decided to eat healthier. Well try anyway. But as I am finding out, healthy tastes good. Very good. I found this recipe for a salad with winter greens at Serious Eats. This was actually a great salad but I had to make a few changes. No pears in the house. Not a fan of the texture. So I added apples and squash instead. Added some bacon, too, for old time's sake. I can't eat all healthy, all the time. But a couple slices goes a long way for flavor. Next try, fish. Maybe. That will definitely be a hard sell to the picky family. Vegetables were easy.

Kale with Sauteed Apples and Butternut Squash

Source: Serious Eats, adapted from Good Food to Share by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup pine nuts
1 Fuji apple, halved and cored and diced
1 cup of butternut squash, diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 handfuls of Kale, remove the  tough stems and cut or tear into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup walnut oil
3 slices cooked bacon, torn in small pieces
salt and freshly ground pepper
Grana Padano cheese, shaved (or Parmesan or Pecorino)

In a small, dry frying pan, toast the pine nuts over medium heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes. Watch because they burn easily. Remove from the heat and remove from pan, pour onto a plate to cool. Set aside.

Dice the apple and the butternut squash. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to a skillet and heat on medium-high. Add the apples and squash, salt and pepper to taste, and saute until browned and softened. Add the bacon and saute for a minute or two with the apples and squash.

Combine the greens and pine nuts in a bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustard, and shallot. Add the walnut oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat thoroughly. Top with the roasted apple, squash and Grana Padano and season with a few grinds of pepper. Serve immediately. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sending out a very big thank you Marigene from In The Middle of Nowhere and her sister Judy from Grace and Miss Mouse Soaps. They had a wonderful giveaway on Marigene's blog and I won a most generous gift of the most fantastic scented handcrafted soaps. You can find tons more at Judy's site, Grace and Miss Mouse Soaps, handcrafted in Vermont, take a peek!

Thanks again ladies, I am thrilled!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joining 

 Mosaic Monday  at the Little Red House.

Tweet

Southern Pecan and Apple Salad

I knew I'd love this one. Bitter greens, peppery arugula, sliced apples, caramel pecans. Stop right there. CARAMEL PECANS??? I am so sugar challenged that I once went through five pounds of sugar trying to make toffee. I should have known then. But this seemed so easy. Two ingredients, low heat. Yeah right. On low heat the butter melted, the sugar did nothing. Stir. Raise the heat, stir and the sugar seemed to be melting. One big stir and it seemed fine. Not burnt but one big glob. I put the nuts in. Not good. It clumped into one big sugar ball with nice pecans stuck to the big glob.

I salvaged what I could and they were actually really good. At least the ones I was able to chip off the ball of caramel. Is caramel supposed to shatter and chip?

I loved this salad, it would also be nice with blue cheese crumbled, I guess it wouldn't be Southern, but it would taste good!

Southern Pecan and Apple Salad

Source: original recipe - Jamie's America: Easy Twists on Great American Classics, and More by Jamie Oliver
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipes

olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup pecan halves
3 teaspoons orange zest
juice of 1 orange
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 medium red or green apples, cored, quartered, and thinly sliced
2 heads Belgian endive, separated into leaves
2 cups mixed greens (such as arugula and radicchio)

Lightly rub a cookie sheet with olive oil or use a silpat-lined cookie sheet; set aside. Heat a large saucepan over low heat; add butter and sugar. Simmer a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally, until sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture darkens. Gently stir in pecans until well-coated; be careful not to splash yourself. Transfer nuts to cookie sheet; use the back of a spoon to separate them into one layer. Allow to cool so caramel hardens.

Combine orange zest, orange juice, mustard, vinegar, and oil in a large salad bowl; stir well with a whisk. Taste and adjust the flavors, if needed, and season with salt and pepper.

Add apples and greens to dressing. Break cooled pecans apart; add half of them to bowl of salad. Toss mixture gently with your hands. Divide among 6 plates; top with remaining pecans and serve.

Join I Heart Cooking Clubs to cook Potluck with Jamie Oliver!

 

Souper Sundays (and salads and sandwiches) with Kahakai Kitchen



and

  The Little Red House for Mosaic Monday! 

Tweet

Caramel Apples!

After the candy apple success, the kids wanted Caramel Apples and I just happened to have a bag of them. I'm not ready to do caramel from scratch again just yet. There is an issue with me and scorching, actually full out burning, and the last time I tried making homemade toffee, I went through a big bag of sugar and no one liked the flavor of my completely burnt toffee candy. Kraft caramels will work out fine. And it did. Except what I didn't know is that they come individually wrapped. WHAT??? That took time. Not to mention I kept eating them as I unwrapped them. So it was supposed to make 5 five apples, we got three and a spoon full to scrape out at the bottom of the pot.

Might as well go for the whole joyful experience, so I rolled it in crushed up heath milk chocolate-covered toffee bits and drizzled the top with melted bittersweet chocolate. One tip is to make sure the apples are really dry or you'll get bubbles in the caramel when it hardens. Just put chocolate chips in a dish and nuke it for about a minute, stir, then another 30 second burst and stir, until most have melted. Then drizzle on top of the caramel covered apple. Let it cool in the frig for about an hour. Unless you can't wait. Like me :)  You can either just bite into it or cut it in quarters with a sharp knife. I sliced it and I'm still wiping the chocolate off my fingers and my camera.

It'll look much better if you actually keep it in the frig and wait the full hour! But it tasted so good anyway, it didn't matter, at least not to me or the kids!

Kraft Caramel Apples
Source: Kraft Foods
Printable Recipe

5 apples (1-1/2 lb.), washed, well dried

1 package (14 oz.) Kraft caramels

2 tablespoons water

Insert a wooden craft stick into stem end of each apple. Cover large plate with waxed paper; grease paper with butter.

Cook caramels and water in large saucepan on medium-low heat until caramels are completely melted, stirring constantly.

Dip apples in caramel; spoon additional caramel over apples if necessary to evenly coat apples. Let excess caramel drip off. Scrape bottoms of apples; place on prepared plate. Refrigerate 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator 15 min. before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Refrigerate leftovers.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joining Mary's Mosaic Monday. For more mosaic's stop by the Little Red House!

Tweet

It's that season...

 Take some apples. Crisp, firm apples. These are Jonagold. I'm pretty sure anyway!

and in a short time you can turn them into Candy Apples and put a big smile on some kid's faces. It put a big smile on mine. I love candy apples. You're never too old!

Have to say I get very nervous working with a pot of molten sugar. Especially with dogs and children around. The kids were out all day, so this was a good day to surprise them, they love candy apples, so do I!

The dogs went outside in the yard. Just in case. Boiling sugar, really bubbling!  Really hot! Exercise extreme caution with this stuff!  I kept the pot in the sink while I dipped the apples, with a baking pan lined with parchment next to the sink. I had everything in place, didn't want any mishaps. I got through everything, except one small thing. One small little thing. After all the apples were done, I had only made four so there was still candy sugar left over in the pot, it spilled over into the sink. The sugar sort of glued the drain strainer thing closed. Figured hot water would melt it and I could get the drain opened. After I got done panicking because the sink was starting to fill up and that drainer thing wasn't budging. I used a measuring cup to get most of the water out, and tapped the drain thing with a hammer. It cracked the candy seal and then I needed a screwdriver to pry it up! That worked! I was way more worried about burning someone than anything else. A flood was all I needed next. But all's well that end's well!
  They couldn't have asked me to make cupcakes?

Let some of the excess drip back into the pot or you'll have a big puddle on the end of your apple. I only made four apples. No sticks in the house, so I used chopsticks left over from the sushi place. Worked great! I'll have to get more because next I see caramel apples in our future!

Candy Apples
Source: Martha Stewart, October 2005
adapted There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

This makes about 6 apples

2 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring, (optional)
or instead of food coloring, 1/2 cup of red hot cinnamon candies (optional)
6 medium apples
parchment paper

In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine sugar, 3/4 cup water, corn syrup, and food coloring OR red hots, if using. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-high. Insert candy thermometer and continue to boil until temperature reaches between 300 degrees and 310 degrees (hard crack stage), about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove stem from apples, insert a wooden stick into the top of each apple, pushing about halfway through; set aside. When mixture reaches temperature, immediately remove from heat. Working quickly, dip apples in sugar mixture until completely coated. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; allow to cool.

Tweet

Baked Apples

One of my favorite desserts has always been baked apples. Didn't matter what the season, I just love them. So when my niece came back from apple picking over the weekend with her daughter and brought us back a bag of Jonagolds, I knew exactly what some of them were going to be...BAKED!

I found what looked like a really nice recipe at epicurious. But I did change it a little. I omitted the figs, used walnuts instead of pecans and almonds and used apple juice instead of apple cider. I didn't baste all that much, but I did a couple of times. It's a super recipe. Loved it. Can't wait for leftovers tomorrow! It said unpeeled but I peeled one anyway. Still came out good.

 

Joining Mary's Mosaic Monday. For more mosaic's stop by the Little Red House!

Maple Baked Apples with Dried Cherries and Walnuts

Source: Epicurious, January 2002 – recipe by Claudia Fleming with Melissa Clark

Adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Printable Recipe

1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

4 tablespoons roughly chopped dried cherries (I used dried Bings)

4 tablespoons roughly chopped walnuts

6 large, firm baking apples, such as Cortlands, cored but not peeled (I used Jonagolds)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, dried fruit, and nuts.

Place the apples in a baking pan or casserole dish and stuff the cavities with the cherry and nut mixture. Place a small piece of butter on top of the stuffing. Pour the apple juice and maple syrup on the bottom of the baking pan, and drizzle a little on top of the apples. Bake the apples, until they are tender, about 30 - 35 minutes, making sure to baste every ten minutes.

When the apples are tender, transfer them to a serving dish and cover with foil to keep warm. Pour the pan juices into a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer the mixture and reduce it until it becomes a syrupy sauce, about 10 minutes. Serve over the apples.

Tweet