recipes 91, 92, and 93: apples, part 2

I'm taking advantage of the 6PM curfew in Hoboken and the last moments of having electricity during Frankenstorm to do a second post on...

APPLES!

The first recipe, for the most delicious applesauce in the world, is inspired by this recipe: http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2012/03/judy.html. The second recipe comes from here: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/02/cinnamon-roll-waffles-bacon-apple-frosting-waffled-recipe.html. The third recipe is slightly adapted from this recipe of the Neelys: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/neelys/apple-crisp-recipe/index.html.

HONEY ROASTED BROWN SUGAR APPLESAUCE
Ingredients:
-a lot of apples, preferably a mix of golden delicious and honeycrisp apples, bearing in mind that 800 apples will yield about 2 teaspoons of applesauce (oh, I exaggerate!)
-a little bit of butter, sliced into small "pats"
-a sprinkle of salt
-brown sugar, enough to sprinkle on all of the sliced apples
-honey, enough to drizzle on all of the sliced apples
-a splash of apple cider vinegar
-a splash of good apple cider, such as this:

 Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2) core and slice the apples, leaving the skins on, spread on a FOIL-LINED (note the emphasis) baking sheet(s), and sprinkle with a tiny sprinkling of salt and considerably more brown sugar

3) top with slivers of butter and drizzle with honey, cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 15-30 minutes until the apples start to soften
4) uncover, raise the heat to 500 degrees, and return the baking sheets to the oven for about 10 minutes, until the apples start to dry out

Do you see why FOIL-LINED was emphasized? Lesson learned!

5) scrape the apples out of their skins and into the blender
6) add a splash of cider and a smaller splash of cider vinegar, and blend in the blender just briefly

YUM!

CINNAMON ROLL WAFFLES WITH APPLE-BACON-CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Ingredients:

Waffles
-one 8 oz. package of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls
-a little bit of melted butter for the waffle iron

Apple-Bacon-Cream Cheese Frosting
-6 slices of bacon
-1 Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled, and diced into small pieces
-2 T dark brown sugar
-2 T whiskey
-a small, small sprinkling of cinnamon (note: this is a Tiffany adaptation because I don't really enjoy cinnamon)
-8 oz cream cheese, softened
-1/2 c confectioner's sugar
-a pinch of salt

Instructions:
1) open the cinnamon rolls and squish together two cinnamon rolls at a time, flattening it out into something that looks like it will fit into the waffle iron (note: this will make four round/flattened cinnamon rolls)
2) preheat the waffle iron, brush with some melted butter, and cook each of the four cinnamon rolls until cooked through, about 2-3 minutes each
3) cook the bacon in a frying pan, drain on paper towels and, when cooled, crumble
4) remove all of the bacon fat from the pan, except two teaspoons
5) add the apples, brown sugar, whiskey, and cinnamon to the pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes

6) mix in a bowl: the cream cheese, hot apples, bacon, confectioner's sugar, and salt
7) spread the cream cheese frosting on two of the waffles and then top with the other two waffles

8) cut each sandwich in half (and note: this is rich and half of one sandwich is more than enough breakfast for one person!)

APPLE AND PEAR PECAN CRISP
Ingredients:
Topping
-3/4 c flour
-1/3 c brown sugar
-dash of cinnamon and salt
-4-5 T sliced pats of butter, softened
-1/4 c chopped pecans
-1/4 c rolled oats

Filling
-4 Granny Smith apples and 2 pears, peeled, cored, and diced into small pieces
-1/4 c chopped pecans
-3 T flour
-1/2 c brown sugar
-2 T honey
-1 T lemon juice

Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2) mix filling ingredients together

3) place the filling in individual ramekins or a glass casserole dish (don't fill more than 3/4 of the way to the top)
4) mix the topping ingredients together and sprinkle over the filling
5) bake for 35-40 minutes and cool for 10 minutes before serving (with, obviously, some vanilla ice cream!)\

I hope everybody on the East Coast is okay during Frankenstorm! 

Stay safe!

recipes 89 and 90: "Greek" chicken and string beans with shallots

I know that everyone has been waiting with baited breath to see if that chaos with the Halloween costume sorted itself out. I am pleased to report: 1) yes it did and 2) I learned a lesson in the meantime. The lesson, which is rather formulaic, looks like this:

If you have a problem such as this: "Oh no, I waited until the last minute again and my Halloween costume has so many parts and I had to order everything separately and everything is being shipped separately, some from private individuals as opposed to actual businesses in places like Iowa or London, and I don't think everything is going to get here in time and Halloween is going to be ruined and nobody is going to understand my costume because the parts that aren't going to get here in time are the crucial parts!"

Try this: Forget about the problem. Go on about your business. Worry about it when it's time to worry about it. Busy yourself with something way more important, such as, in my case, the career that I am completely, devotedly wed to, for better or worse. Or such as, in the case of everybody else, Hurricane Sandy (aka, per News 12 New Jersey, Frankenstorm).

And then: Without you even realizing it, little by little, boxes from all over the world will just miraculously arrive full of different pieces of your Halloween costume. And you sort of won't have even really noticed, because you've been so embroiled in the "Try this" section above. And then it will be time for Halloween festivities, and everything will be fine. And then you can sing to anybody and everybody who will listen, courtesy of Jay-Z, "If you having Halloween problems, I feel bad for you son. I've got 99 problems, but my costume ain't one. Hit me."

So, "Greek" chicken and string beans with shallots is the first meal I ever made for Tristan. I don't know why I was inclined to take a picture of it at the time, but I did (perhaps I was foretelling the inception of this blog, but probably not) and you'll see it below. The "Greek" chicken is from that high school classmate I sometimes reference who had the food blog but then sadly dismantled it. I am unsure of its source beyond that but I know that it's one of my favorite chicken recipes. And by the way, "Greek" is in "quotes" because I don't think this is actually from Greece but more a melange of Greek-ish ingredients, all Americanized. The string beans with shallots are from the Barefoot Contessa: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/string-beans-with-shallots-recipe/index.html

"GREEK" CHICKEN
Ingredients:
-1 lb thinly sliced chicken cutlets
-2 T flour
-1 t oregano
-3 minced garlic cloves
-1 c sliced red onion
-1 T olive oil
-1 1/2 c low sodium chicken broth
-1/3 c golden raisins (sounds weird, but just trust me here!)
-2 T lemon juice
-2 T capers
-1/2 c feta, crumbled

Instructions:
1) dredge the chicken in the flour and oregano and cook in the olive oil for 5 minutes on each side (medium high heat)
2) remove the chicken from the pan to a plate
3) add the onions and garlic to the pan and saute until starting to brown
4) stir in the chicken broth, raisins, and lemon juice and cook for about 3 minutes; stir while cooking
5) add the chicken back to the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes
6) remove the chicken to plates and add the capers and feta to the sauce, and stir it together
7) top the chicken with the sauce

STRING BEANS WITH SHALLOTS
Ingredients:
-1 lb string beans (or, if we're being a little snooty, haricots verts), ends removed
-2 T butter
-1 T olive oil
-3 large shallots, diced
-salt and pepper, to taste
-optional: some diced pancetta (I haven't actually made it with pancetta, but if anybody out there is looking for a meaty add-in, I would recommend going in the direction of diced pancetta)

Instructions:
1) blanch the beans in a large pot of boiling salted water for about a minute and a half; drain immediately and run under very cold water
2) heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot and saute the shallots on medium-high heat, tossing occasionally, until they are browned to your liking (I like making them really brown, as you will see below)
3) add the beans to the shallots, add the salt and pepper, and toss together in the pan only until the beans are hot

recipes 86, 87, and 88: apples, part 1

I'm writing this first post on apples while procrastinating on ordering what I need to order for my Halloween costume. So every year, I hatch an idea for a ridiculous costume (e.g. a tornado, a clothesline, etc) and I get very, very excited until... it's time to actually make the idea come to fruition. I've decided that people generally fall into two categories: 1) idea-generators and 2) implementers. I am the former. I loathe actual implementation but I love coming up with ideas. Tristan, on the other hand, is an implementer. This combination of personalities is what causes us to be like this hyper-productive pair.

I look like The Thinker:

source: http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/about/thinker

And Tristan looks a little more like this man:

source: http://www.johnlund.com/page.asp?ID=839

So now, my current Halloween costume, which requires multiple parts and has been fun to think about until I had to actually figure out where I could purchase the parts, is really cramping my Sunday evening style. Instead of working on that further, I'm going to actually just go ahead and do another blog post- three in one day, WHAT. The first recipe is hands-down my family's favorite fall recipe, and comes from my mom's mom. The second recipe is my own brain child. The third recipe is altered only slightly from Paula Deen's recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/sugar-and-nut-glazed-brie-recipe/index.html.

MY MOM'S MOM'S ROMAN APPLE CAKE
Ingredients:
-1 1/2 c flour
-1/2 c butter, softened
-1/2 c brown sugar, packed
-1/2 c white sugar
-1 t cinnamon
-1 beaten egg
-1 t baking soda
-1/2 c milk mixed together with 1/2 T vinegar
-2 large apples, peeled and sliced
-extra pats of butter and an extra sprinkling of cinnamon

Instructions:
1) preheat oven to 375 degrees
2) mix the flour through the cinnamon in a bowl with a fork until the mixture is crumbly
3) beat together in a small bowl: the egg, baking soda, and the milk mixture
4) add half of the crumb mixture to the the liquid and continue to beat
5) pour the mixture into a greased 9" square or round pyrex
6) layer the apples on top
7) sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top
8) layer the extra butter pats on top and sprinkle with a little more cinnamon
9) bake for 30-35 minutes

GRILLED BRIE, BACON, AND HONEY-BALSAMIC APPLES ON PUMPERNICKEL BREAD
Ingredients (there are no measurements here, I just sort of whipped it up as I was thinking it up and it was definitely delicious):
-sliced apples (peeled or not peeled, up to you!)
-a mixture of honey and balsamic vinegar (proportions are up to you!)
-some bacon
-pumpernickel bread
-sliced brie cheese

Instructions:
1) marinate the sliced apples in the honey-balsamic mixture
2) cook the bacon, drain the fat, and then saute the apples in the same pan
3) assemble the grilled cheese by layering the bread, brie, bacon, apples, brie, bread
4) grill it right in the same pan
5) please eat this with a salad, it is too rich on its own!

BROWN SUGAR AND MACADAMIA GLAZED BRIE WITH SLICED APPLES
Ingredients:
-1/4 c packed brown sugar
-1/4 c finely chopped macadamia nuts
-1 T brandy
-1 round of brie (14 oz)
-2-3 T lemon juice
-sliced apples

Instructions:
1) stir together the brown sugar, nuts, and brandy
2) cover and refrigerate the brown sugar/nut mix for 24 hours
3) preheat the oven to 500 degrees
4) place the brie on a pie plate and bake for 4-5 minutes until it is slightly softened
5) spread the brown sugar/nut mix on top of the brie and bake for about 2-3 more minutes until the sugar gets melty
6) brush the apples with lemon juice, arrange around the brie, and serve

Alright, alright, back to my Halloween costume planning...

recipe 85: hooray-ah, paella!

Before moving along to the apple/pumpkin/butternut squash madness that's been going on in the kitchen lately, I wanted to post my recipe for the yummiest paella on earth, from Tristan's friend Diaz.

BEST USER-FRIENDLY PAELLA EVER
Ingredients:
Sofrito
-1 medium tomato
-a splash of olive oil
-1 t paprika
-1/2 t salt
-a pinch of parsley
-1/4 of an onion, chopped
-heaping teaspoon of chopped garlic

Rice
-3/4 c uncooked rice (short or medium grain)
-1 1/2-2 c water
-a pinch of saffron (Have you ever seen saffron? It is so cool!)
-1/4 c peas (thawed)
-lemon wedges
(optional: artichokes, peppers, and/or string beans... we did not use any of these because as the attentive reader may recall, Tristan doesn't really heart vegetables, and since this was his recipe via his friend, I honored that)

Meat
-1/4 lb chorizo
-approximately 3-5 jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined
-1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

Instructions:
1) remove seeds from the tomato and chop or blend with a splash of olive oil
2) add salt, pepper, and parsley to the tomato mixture
3) put enough oil in a heavy-bottomed pan to coat it, and saute the onion and garlic
4) add the tomato mix and cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly, until the mixture becomes pasty
5) move the sofrito over to the side of the pan
6) lightly salt the chicken and cook alongside the sofrito
7) slice up the chorizo and brown it alongside the chicken (for about 8 minutes)
8) add the shrimp, fry until nearly done, and remove the shrimp to a plate

9) add the rice to the pan, mix everything together, and let the rice toast for about 1-2 minutes
10) add 1 1/2 c of water and a few threads of saffron (4-5)
11) add the peas to the top
12) let the paella cook on high (don't stir) until the water is absorbed and the rice appears dry (note: if the water is evaporated and the rice isn't cooked, add water a half cup at a time until the rice is cooked)
13) top with the cooked shrimp, cover, remove from heat, and let this sit for about 10 minutes

14) garnish with lemon slices and enjoy!

New Orleans... city of FOOD!

So I've been away for the past four weekends and have been crazy busy with work during those in-between weekend times, but here, enjoy this short blog intermission of everything I ate during only 48 hours in New Orleans. It is quite hard to believe that one smallish individual could consume this much food in such a short period of time, but consume it I did and enjoy it I did. Here you go, complete with my personal ranking, 10 being perfection:

Muffuletta from Central Grocery: 9/10

Bananas Foster and Bread Pudding from Court of Two Sisters: 7/10

Bacon-wrapped Shrimp and Grits with Red Eye Gravy from Mr. B's Bistro: 9.5/10

Pralines from I can't remember where: 6/10 (too sweet for this girl with a salt tooth as opposed to a sweet tooth)

Cafe au Lait and Beignets from Cafe du Monde: 9/10 (old Salt Tooth does enjoy sweet things from time to time)

Oysters (the biggest ones I've ever seen) from Acme Oyster House: 8/10 (note: I chickened out, made my sister eat these two, and asked for a smaller one for myself)

Shrimp Po Boy from Acme Oyster House: 9/10

Not pictured but thoroughly enjoyed: Eggs Benedict from Court of Two Sisters: 8.5/10
Not pictured but not thoroughly enjoyed: Turtle Soup from Court of Two Sisters: Minus 3 trillion/10
Quote I will probably never hear again but did hear during the turtle soup ordeal: "Get more turtle on that spoon or it doesn't count, Tiff!" This story begs for a list of the craziest things I've ever eaten, so here you go in no particular order: turtle soup, crocodile pizza, roasted emu, roasted kangaroo, roasted camel, tom yum jellyfish soup, and whale (controversial but true).