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!