Green chile apple pie

We decided in my Seasonal Cooking class to try this recipe- perfect for the New Mexico autumn- fresh roasted green chiles and apples. I got this recipe from the Edible Santa Fe website. A great magazine and a great website of recipes divided by seasons!


6 ripe apples
2 T. butter
1/2-1 C. chopped green chile
3/4 C. sugar
1/8 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 C. cheddar cheese, grated
2 pre-made pie crusts
Preheat oven to 375. Core and slice apples 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Heat butter in a large skillet on medium heat until fragrant and sizzling. Add apples and toss to coat, cover tightly and cook, stirring frequently until they are tender but still slightly crunchy, about 5 minutes. Stir in green chile, sugar, salt and spices, and cook on high heat about 5 more minutes, until the juices thicken. Lay the bottom crust in a 9” pie pan and sprinkle cheese over the bottom. Pour in the apple mixture. Lay the top crust over and seal by crimping the edges. Bake about 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

**This pie was something, alright! What an interesting mix of flavors between the spicy chile, the sweet apples, and the buttery crust. It was hard to discern the cheese, though. Maybe a sharp cheddar next time...

Gingered Rhubarb Apple Crisp

My rhubarb is ready for harvesting! Since I have a few apples left from the other week's harvest box, this recipe looked good to try. I got it from a site dedicated to rhubarb, The Rhubarb Compedium.

Gingered Rhubarb Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

2 c Diced rhubarb
3 lg Apples,peeled, cored and Sliced
1 c Sugar
1 tb Minced crystallized ginger
1 tb Flour

Topping

1/2 c Flour
1/2 c Brown sugar
4 tb Butter, cold, cut into Chunks
1/2 tsp Ground ginger
1/2 c Oatmeal

Procedure:

Place rhubarb, apples, 1 cup sugar, crystallized ginger, and 2 tablespoons flour in a large bowl and toss well. Turn into a greased 9" pie pan. Combine topping ingredients in a bowl and mix with a pastry blender until crumbly. Spread crumb mixture over rhubarb and apples and bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes, until fruit is tender and topping is browned. Serve warm...

**Shown with frozen rhubarb yogurt on top. Could have also been good with vanilla ice cream or cream. I would reduce the sugar next time- I thought it was a tad too sweet.

Potato Salad with Herring

I have some leftover red potatoes after making the Manhatten Tuna Chowder and I have been reading that we need to eat more herring. I opened some herring from the Talin Market the other day and now I need to use it up. Here is the online version of the recipe. Although this calls for bottled beets, you could use fresh. I will use the pickles that I canned last summer. I will also cut the herring into very small pieces so they don't compete with the meatballs that I'm serving with this dish.

serves 4

salt and freshly milled white pepper
675 g (1 1/2 lb) new potatoes
4 pickled herring fillets
1 large onion
1 large, fairly sour apple
225 g (8 oz) bottled beetroot
100 g (4 oz) cocktail gherkins
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
5 tablespoons low fat natural yogurt
1 tablespoon wine vinegar

method

1. Half fill a medium-sized saucepan with water and add a generous pinch of salt. Scrub the potatoes under running water, add them to the saucepan, bring the water to the boil and boil the potatoes in their skins for 25 - 30 minutes.

2. Rinse the herring in cold water, pat dry and cut it into squares. Cut the onion into rings. Peel, quarter, core and dice the apple. Drain the beetroot in a sieve and cut it into cubes, reserving 2 tablespoons of the juice. Slice the gherkins.

3. Beat the mayonnaise with the beetroot juice, yogurt, vinegar and pepper. Drain the potatoes, leave them to cool, remove the skins and slice. Gently mix the potatoes with the herring, onion rings, apple, gherkins and beetroot in a large bowl.

4. Fold the dressing into the salad, cover the bowl and leave to stand for a few minutes before serving. Season to taste with salt. 

Chicken, Apple, Arugula, and Goat Cheese Salad

Looking for a way to use up the last of the arugula and an apple...realizing that I had a log of goat cheese in the cheese drawer... Google search can be a wonderful thing. This recipe can be found on the Simply Recipes site.

• Olive oil
• 1 large shallot, peeled and sliced
• 1 1/2 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• Salt
• 1 tart green apple, thinly sliced
• Baby arugula leaves - enough for a salad for four
• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup goat cheese - broken up into little pieces
• Lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

Method

1 Heat frying pan to medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and lightly sauté the shallot slices until translucent. Remove from pan. Add another tablespoon of olive oil and cook the chicken breast pieces, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through - 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle some salt on the chicken while you are cooking it. Remove from pan and chill.
2 When chicken has cooled, toss together in a serving bowl the shallots, chicken, sliced green apple, arugula, walnuts and goat cheese. Dress with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
Serves four.

**Delicious salad. I used a red wine vinaigrette, no shallot, and no chicken. I used a braeburn apple.

Jewish Apple Cake

I'm not sure where I copied this recipe from. I wrote "yummy" beside it the last time I made it. Part of the description reads, "Dense and moist, crammed with sweet cinnamony fruit, this popular cake is thought to come from the rich tradition of baked goods of German or Alsatian Jews."

Serves 10-12

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into small slices
3 Bartlett pears, ripe but firm, peeled, cored, and cut into small slices
1 T cinnamon
2 1/4 C sugar
3 C flour
1 t salt
1 T baking powder
1 C vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 t almond extract
1/4 C apple cider or apple juice

Preheat oven to 375. Butter a deep 10" bundt pan or angel food cake pan.

In a large bowl, combine the apples, pears, and cinnamon and 1/4 C of the sugar. Mix well and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, the remaining 2 C sugar, the salt and the baking pwder. Mix thoroughly, then make a well in the middle of the mixture.
Pour the oil, eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and cider into the well, then mix the batter until it is well blended and smooth. The batter will be very stiff.
Spoon one third of the batter into the pan. Spoon half the fruit mixture over the batter; take care that the fruit does not touch the sides or inner ring of the pan. Spoon another third of the batter over the fruit. Spoon the remaining fruit over the batter them spread the remaining batter over the fruit.
Bake for 65-75 minutes, until the cake is firm and nicely browned. Allow the cake to cool in the pan, then unmold onto a serving plate.

**Delicious. I used 2/3 C less of the sugar because the apples we are getting from LPO are sweet. I used water instead of apple cider. I used organic safflower oil. I cut the slices of fruit in half. I didn't add the almond extract (although next time I will).

Date and Apple Cake with Coconut topping

I found this recipe in New Zealand. I haven't the slightest idea where it came from. It was transcribed on the back of a scrap sheet from the local library.

1 C dates, chopped
1/2 C boiling water
1/2 C oil
2 t vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 C sugar
2 apples, peeled and grated

Preheat the oven to 350.

Put dates into boiling water and soak till cool.
Mix oil, vanilla and eggs together. Add and mix in the flour baking powder and soda. The add the sugar. Next comes the apples with the dates.
Bake for 40 minutes.

Coconut Topping
1 C coconut
1/4 C sugar
1 egg

Mix and dot on top of cake. Cook an additional 10 minutes.

**I didn't make the topping. I cut the sugar to 3/4 Cup. I might substitute apple sauce for the oil next time. It was very easy to prepare. I was ready before the oven was preheated. It is a nice moist cake. Should be great for lunches this week.

Quick and Easy Apple Cake

This comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Vegetarian Adventure Cook Book, by Rowan Bishop and Sue Carruthers. You can order it online from a number of sellers in New Zealand. 

2 cooking apples
1 C brown sugar
125 g butter (4 1/2 oz) (a bit more than 1/2 C)
1 egg
1/2 C raisins*
1 1/4 C whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t allspice
1/2 t nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350.
Peel, core and cop the apples thinly. Place in a bowl and cover with the sugar. Melt the butter, then blend the egg in with a fork. Add to the apples and sugar. Stir in the raisins and the sifted dry ingredients, until just mixed. Line the bottom of a round pan with butter. Pour in the cake mixture and spread evenly.

Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
(The recipe says that ff you use white flour, the cake will take between 50 and 60 minutes to cook- however, I haven't found that to be true.)
* I added craisins just to see...

** I didn't take a picture of the cake. It has been in lunches all week. Delicious. The craisins were a nice addition. I'm going to try walnuts next time.

Baked Porkchops with Apples

I got some pork chops from the warehouse (before the new exciting delivery change!) I wanted to try baking them to keep them moist. This recipe came courtesy of a user named ladypit on food.com There were quite a few comments about baking them less- I'll be doing that and using a thermometer to make sure they are done.

Serves 6

6 pork chops
2 T butter
4 apples
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 t cinnamon

1. Peel, core, and slice the apples.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Melt the butter in a skillet.
4. Brown the pork chops on both sides in the butter.
5. Grease (or spray) a large baking dish.
6. Put the apple slices in the bottom of the dish.
7. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon.
8. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over the apples.
9. Place the pork chops on top of the apples.
10. Cover with foil and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours.

 

 

** I cooked 4 pork chops with 2 1/2 apples for 30 minutes and it was done. This is a nice dish and very easy to make. Next time I will trim the fat before I cook it.

 

Apple Loaf with Pecans and Apricots

Made this loaf today in anticipation of lunches this week. The recipe is from a book called Back to Home Baking.

Quick Apricot, Apple and Pecan Loaf Cake
6 oz (175 g) no-soak apricots, chopped in half (cut into smaller pieces)- (ended up as 1 heaping cup)
6 oz (175 g) cooking apple, 1 medium, cut into 1/2 " chucks with skins on (smaller is better)
6 oz (175g) pecan nuts- (ended up as 1 1/2 cups chopped)
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon- rounded
4 oz (110 g) whole wheat flour* (ended up as a scant less than 1 cup)
4 oz (110 g) plain flour* (ended up as a scant less than 1 cup)
4 oz (110) butter, room temperature
6 oz (175 g) soft brown sugar (ended up as 1 cup semi-packed)
2 eggs, beaten
3 T milk

Topping- cinnamon sugar mixture

Preheat oven to 350.
Spread pecans on a baking sheet and toast them lightly for about 8 minutes. Chop them roughly when cool.
Sift the salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and both flours. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the fruit and nuts. Mix in a mixer starting on a slow speed and increasing speed till everything is mixed thoroughly. Then lightly fold in the apricots, apples, and nuts.
When it is all folded in, add a drop more milk if necessary so mixture drops easily off the spoon. Put into a loaf pan and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 1 1/4- 1 1/2 hours or until cake feels springy in the center.
When cooked, let it cool for 5 minutes before turning it onto a wire rack. Let it get cold before you slice it- otherwise it will crumble.

 *I used spelt flour.

** Family said it tasted nice- but the apricots needed to be lots smaller. The pecans added a nice texture. I got the pecans from a family friend in Anthony, NM.