Easy Apple Raisin Crisp

I’m going to be honest, I stole tried this recipe from Food Network’s Sunny Anderson when I had the four fellas here this summer. We had an abundance of apples and this made for a fantastically easy and fast dessert! Just about any firm apple works even though she recommends Fuji or McIntosh apples. The kids loved (LOVED) ‘em and i can’t believe it was so simple to make.

I wonder if it would be too indulgent to enjoy for breakfast one day???

Ingredients

• 2 apples (recommended: Fuji or McIntosh)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup strawberry jam, jelly or preserves
• 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons butter, cold and diced
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup oats, uncooked
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Pinch salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut each apple in half along its equator. Using a melon baller or spoon, cut out the core, creating a rounded hole. Rub apple with lemon juice to prevent browning. Place 1 tablespoon of jam into each hole and top with a few raisins.

Topping: in a small bowl mix together dry ingredients plus the cold butter. It’s faster and easier if you do this with your hands. Press the mixture on the top of each apple. Be careful not to press too hard or the jam will squirt out. Place in a baking dish filled with about a 1/4-inch of water. Bake until top is golden brown and apple is tender, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Here is a link to Sunny’s original baked apple recipe.

Jenn is a stay at home southern mom raising her kids in Northwestern Minnesota with her trucker hubby. You can find recipes, crafts, parenting strategies, budget tips, product reviews and fabulous giveaways on her blog, Frugal Front Porch.

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Roasted Applesauce

Ok yes. It's only August. Not even halfway through August yet. Not really *fresh* apple season yet - I know, I know! Bookmark this post for fall though; trust me, you want to!

Transparent apples are coming into season now however and earlier this week my Dad was given a whole lot of them. He asked me if I'd like to do something with them. A pie (hint hint) or something. Of course I said yes and after baking three little six inch pies absolutely crammed with apples, I still had six pounds left over.

I'd seen this roasted applesauce from Martha Stewart oh goodness, a while back now, and had bookmarked it to try this apple season. Thought I'd give it a trial test run with the remaining transparents, as I'd learned they do in fact make great pies and applesauce.

Well. Let's just put it this way. I doubt I'll be making applesauce in any other way, ever again. This recipe makes such a creamy, flavorful and rich applesauce! So good. And after digging around the interwebs, I learned that I could in fact can applesauce in a hot water bath so that it is shelf stable rather than taking up room in my freezer. Double win!

I had six pounds so I doubled the recipe and it turned out beautifully.

A note - if you do not own a food mill, simply chop the apples roughly as I did, then press through a large mesh strainer to remove seeds/peels/cores.

Here's the recipe:

Roasted Applesauce
Makes 8 - 1/2 cup servings
Martha Stewart

1/4 cup water
6 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
pinch coarse salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 pounds small assorted apples such as Gala, McIntosh or Fuji (about 10)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch ground cloves

Preheat oven to 425F. Combine water, sugar, lemon juice and salt in a 9x13 dish.

Scatter butter pieces over the mixture and top with whole apples. Roast until apples are very soft, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Working in small batches, send the apple mixture through a food mill to remove peels and seeds.

Stir in spices. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled. Can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 5 days.

Carnival #180 - Pickled Pepper Rings

Welcome to the carnival! The Make it from Scratch carnival is your chance to share your projects. I hope you join us by linking up at the bottom of this post.

The hot banana peppers are looking good in the garden this year. They are big, and they are hot. Just the way we like them. The easiest way to preserve hot peppers is by pickling them.

I love having pickled hot peppers on hand to add to Mexican dishes, put on a pizza, or give a sandwich some zip.

Preparing the Peppers
It is a good idea to wear rubber gloves when working with hot peppers. Wash peppers. Discard stems. Cut in 1/2 inch thick rings. You can remove the seeds if you wish, but I leave them.


Pickling juice (enough for about a dozen large banana peppers to yield about 5 pints of pickled peppers)
6 C white vinegar
2 C water
4 cloves of garlic, crushed

Combine ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and gently boil about five minutes. Strain to remove the garlic. Keep liquid hot.

Pack pepper rings into hot jars leaving at least 1/2 inch headspace. Cover with hot juice. Wipe rim and screw lid on to finger tip tight. Boiling water process (be sure water is covering the jars) for 10 minutes (don't start timing until water is back to a boil.) Wait five minutes. Remove jars to cool. Refrigerate any unsealed jars.

TIPS
If you only have a few peppers to pickle, you can skip the boiling water bath, and just store your pickled peppers in the refrigerator.

You can use many varieties of peppers with this recipe, or even mix your peppers.

LINK UP YOUR PROJECTS!

Carnival Guidelines:

Link up your recipes, crafts, garden projects, yarn creations, home improvement, or other d-i-y posts. Posts about making something, or helpful resources and tips for making things are what we are all about.


Please link directly to the post, not to home page of your blog. Kindly link back to the carnival with twitter, stumble and/or from your blog.

Fennel, Avocado and Mint Salad with Pistachio Caper Dressing

Are you trapped in the heatwave that is the southeast this summer?  Or is it this hot everywhere?  It's brutal here and all I can think of is salad!  Try this crunchy, zesty one for a complete change of taste!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons)
• Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Heaping 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup drained capers in brine, minced
• 1/2 cup pistachio oil, or other nutty oil such as pumpkinseed
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup minced red onion (about 1/2 small onion)
• 1 medium fennel bulb, halved lengthwise, cored, and very thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 3 medium ripe Hass avocados
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves, chopped

Instructions

1. Place sun-dried tomatoes in a small bowl. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and pour over the tomatoes so that they are completely submerged. Allow to soak for 1 hour, then drain and slice into 1/8-inch-thick strips.
2. To make the pistachio-caper vinaigrette, combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and capers in a small bowl. Slowly add the pistachio oil and olive oil, pouring them in a thin stream while whisking constantly to emulsify them. Stir in the onion.
3. Combine the sliced fennel and sun-dried tomato slices in a mixing bowl, and toss with the pistachio-caper vinaigrette.
4. Halve the avocados lengthwise and remove the pits. Peel each half and place it cut-side down on the cutting board. Slice the avocados into very thin, lengthwise strips.
5. If you’re pressed for time, you can toss all the ingredients together and serve in a salad bowl. For a prettier presentation, layer the avocado slices in a medium bowl, followed by a layer of the fennel salad mixture, and finally some of the fresh herbs. Repeat until all ingredients are stacked in the bowl, ending with a layer of fennel and herbs, about 4 layers of each ingredient total.
6. Let salad sit for half an hour at room temperature to allow the flavors to combine, then scoop onto plates.

Craisin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

We were introduced to craisin chocolate chunk cookies at The Pacific Cookie Co. during out trip to Santa Cruz, CA last month. My mother completely fell in love with them, but knew she would need to create a copycat recipe of her own since she would be leaving California soon. She did, immediately upon returning home, and here it is...

Craisin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups chocolate chunks (or about one and a half packages)
1 cup craisins
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

Step 1: In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients with a whisk.

Step 2: In a large bowl, combine softened butter and sugars by hand until smooth and creamy. To this mixture, add eggs and vanilla.

Step 3: Pour flour mixture into sugar mixture and mix by hand until smooth.

Step 4: Add craisins, nuts and chocolate chunks to dough and stir until combined.

Step 5: On a greased cookie sheet, drop 1 inch balls about 2 inches apart, and bake at 375 degrees F for 7 to 9 minutes, or until very lightly browned.

Enjoy!

Carnival #179 - Banana "Ice Cream"

Welcome to the carnival! The Make it from Scratch carnival is your chance to share your projects. I hope you join us by linking up at the bottom of this post.

A few weeks ago I found myself with an excess of bananas. Normally if I have too many bananas I will freeze a few to use for baking at a later date. The trouble this time is I already had quite a few frozen for baking, andI had a lot of bananas that need to be used. Luckily, my sister-in-law had a wonderful idea.

She told me that you could make an ice cream like treat from frozen bananas. I'm always up for ice cream. So she peeled a couple dozen bananas, stuck them in a freezer bag, and put them in the freezer.

Awhile later I pulled them out, broke them into pieces, and let the food processor do all the work. I did add a little bit of milk because the bananas were so thick my food processor was having a hard time mixing it.

The result? Creamy, cold, and delicious. And any leftovers keep well in a container in the freezer. For some ideas for variations of this simple and delicious dessert, check out the comments section in Step-by-Step Instructions for One Ingredient Ice Cream.



LINK UP YOUR PROJECTS!
Carnival Guidelines:

Link up your recipes, crafts, garden projects, yarn creations, home improvement, or other d-i-y posts. Posts about making something, or helpful resources and tips for making things are what we are all about.

Please link directly to the post, not to home page of your blog. Kindly link back to the carnival with twitter, stumble and/or from your blog.