Tag Archives: apple

Quick and Easy Apple Tart

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I love the rustic nature of these tarts. We took a few apples, got our mandolin out, pumped up some tunes from Fiona Apple’s new cd and we were ready to slice and puff.

The puff pastry and the thinly sliced apples have a bit of tang from the lemon and are glazed in the natural apple juice and brown sugar. The extra crunch from the turbinado sugar provides another level of texture. The tart is unbelievably simple to make and really provides a wow factor at a dinner party or for tea.

Adapted from Pioneer Woman

  • 1 whole Sheet Puffed Pastry, Cut Into Half Or Thirds
  • 4 Apples, Cored, Halved, And Sliced, But Not Peeled
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt
  • ¼ cup turbinado or sugar in the raw
  • juice of one lemon

Preheat oven to 410 degrees.

Put pastry rectangles onto a baking pan (greased with a bit of butter). Add sugar and salt to the cored and peeled apples. Squeeze juice of one lemon. Stir to combine. Allow to sit for a few minutes and the sugar and juice to marinate.

Arrange apple slices on the pastry in a straight line, overlapping as you go. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of the apple tart. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown.

Cool and serve.

Crepe Tatin

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Happy Fête Nationale!  We love tarte tatin and always prefer the caramelized and infused apples versus all the buttery crust. Why not enjoy the apple facet without all the puff? Crepes tatin is the perfect balance of paper-thin crepes enveloping the sweet apples. Inspired by the Peter and Gerry blog, we made crepes with Pete and Gerry’s Hierloom Eggs. The crepes have no additional sugar to counteract the sweetness of the sugar apples and the caramel has a touch of salt to make a salted caramel flavor.

Adapted from Laura Calder

Yields 4-6 crepes

Crepes

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Pete and Gerry’s eggs
  • 1/2 cup almond or soy milk
  • 1 tablespoons melted butter or Earth Balance for pan
  • 3-4 tablespoons water, as needed

 

Crepes

Put the flour in a measuring cup and add salt, Pete and Gerry’s eggs and soy milk. With a fork, whisk and try to remove lumps.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours before frying.

 

Thin out the batter with water to the consistency of light cream. Heat a crêpe pan over high heat. Add butter or oil onto the pan and pour 2-3 tablespoons of batter onto the pan and tilt and swirl pan to thin out the crepe..When the batter creates air bubbles, the edges are lacy and lightly golden brown, flip. Place finished crepes on a plate or separate each crepe with wax paper between each crepe.

Sauteed Apple Slices

  • 1/8 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • a small dash of sea or Kosher salt
  • 2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
  1. Core, peel and slice the apples. Melt the butter in a pan and add the granulated sugar. Cook to dissolve to caramel. Add the apple slices and cook in the caramel until an amber color. Cook apples over medium high heat, do not move for, 15 to 25 minutes.
  2. Lay a crepe on a plate. Top with a spoonful of apple caramel and slices. Roll up the crepe and drizzle some extra caramel sauce on the crepe and plate. Enjoy.

 

Biscoff Spread

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Move over Nutella for Belgian’s Biscoff Crunchy Spread. I first tried Biscoff cookies on my flights to the UK and have continued to enjoy them with a cup of tea ever since. Lotus created the both creamy and crunchy Speculoos spread which has become a cult item in Europe and is now trending in the USA.  I love the texture of the biscuit crumbs throughout the spread.

After trying the sweet and crunchy spread it on apples and a waffle for a makeshift Belgian waffle, I have been dreaming up other ways I can enjoy crunchy spread. I was thinking about all my uses for Nutella and maybe I will make speculoos crepes, cupcakes, cookies or maybe speculoos snickerdoodles.

The slightly tart granny smith apple was perfect with the Biscoff crunchy spread. It tasted like a fresh apple crumble or apple tart. Loved it.

The warm and crisp waffle had a nice texture from the creamy spread and had a light spice.

Five Horses Tavern, Davis Square, Somerville

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Five Horses Tavern is known for their great selection of beers, offering 36 rotating drafts and 80 bottles. The tavern replaced Sagra Ristorante and was a new addition to Davis in 2011. The beer tap lighting sculpture at the entrance is super cool.

Kegs = art sculptures

Walk in beer refrigerator

The dining area was buzzing, with every seat in the house filled. The dark wood, fireplace and chandeliers made the bar exceptionally warm and casual.

Three of us ordered the Fried Chicken Sammy for $11. The Kentucky Fried country style chicken breast, Kirk Webster’s raw Vermont honey, lettuce sounded too good to not order. The brioche was a bit too much bread, but was well toasted. The chicken itself was ok, the coating did not have much flavor, although the chicken inside was juicy. I think what made the chicken sandwich better with the honey and lettuce slaw.

All sandwiches come with choice of side including tater tots, cheddar jalapeno mashed potatoes, mesclun greens, fruit salad and we all went for crunchy and tender tater tots.

My vegetarian friend had the veggie burger, which she said was similar to a boca burger, nothing to sing praises about.

My friend’s apple crisp for $6 was such a disappointment and and tasted as depressing as it looked in its bowl. Although the vanilla ice cream was good, the crisp was cold, as if it was scooped from the fridge and not heated fully. Unfortunately, our waiter suggested too late to get the creme brulee. Next time.

Whenever I am in the Davis next, I’ll try the kentucky fried cornish game hen (k.f.c.g.h.) with jalapeno cheddar mashed potatoes, pork belly spiked mac and cheese ($16), the pork belly taco, crisped confit pork belly, pickled red onions, dragon lady sauce, ($5) and brussels sprouts with pork belly, pickled apples, fish sauce vinaigrette, shitake and wood ear mushrooms ($5). I heard these three items are unbelievable and the sprouts even made a friend who hates brussel sprouts a convert.

Five Horses Tavern on Urbanspoon

Maple Apple Breakfast Sausage

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Who knows what is really in commercially made sausage these days? When in doubt, I always like to make my own healthy version to make sure I’m eating something chemical free.

  • 1 lb ground chicken
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1 large apple, peeled and diced fine
  • 3 T sweet onion, minced 3 T pure maple syrup, grade A or B (use grade B if you prefer a strong maple flavor)
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1-2 tsp fennel seed, to taste
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp sage
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp sea salt, to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Form 16 patties from the mixture. You can size the patties to your taste.

Fry the patties in a skillet for about 15 min until golden brown. I used a George Foreman grill because my skillet was being used to make an omelet.

Drain sausage patties on paper towel if necessary.

Store any cooled leftover sausage in the freezer for a future impromptu breakfast.

Note: If you would like to use ground pork, ground beef, ground buffalo or even venison, it would also taste great in this recipe.