Sauteed Apple Pie #26

                                   Sauteed Apple Pie  (page 236)


4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

10-12 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and
sliced 1/2 inch thick

3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

pie crust pastry

1 Tbsp. heavy cream


1. Melt butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet, preferably not nonstick. (Apples will not caramelize as well in a nonstick pan.) Add apples, sprinkle with 3/4 cup sugar, and saute, turning apples, about 10 minutes, until tender and lightly caramelized. Fold in cinnamon. Spread cooked apples on a platter to cool.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divide pastry into two unequal halves; roll out larger portion on a lightly floured board, and line pie pan. Spoon in cooled apples. Roll out remaining pastry, and cover pan; seal and crimp edges. 

3. Brush pastry with cream, and dust with remaining sugar. Bake about 40 minutes, until pastry is golden. Cool briefly, then serve with ice cream. Serves 8-12.

Comment: Not too sweet, just the right amount of cinnamon, and better than Marie Calendar's!

Cream Puffs with Fudge Sauce #25

                                                  Cream Puffs with Fudge Sauce (page 528/537)

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs at room temperature


1. Place 1 cup water in a heavy saucepan. Add butter, salt and sugar and bring to a boil. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously and thoroughly with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a ball that clears the sides of the pan.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously and rapidly with each addition. 

3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a baking sheet. 

4. With two spoons, form ping pong sized mounds of batter.

5. Place in oven and bake fro 30 minutes, until the puffs are golden brown and firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Fill with whipped cream, and drizzle with fudge sauce. Makes 24-30 small puffs.

  

                                            Fudge Sauce (page 537)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup light corn syrup

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 pound unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cream, milk, corn syrup and butter. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes, until mixture reaches about 220 degrees on a candy thermometer and becomes a pale caramel.

2. Remove pan from heat, and stir in chocolate until it melts. Stir in 1/3 cup water and vanilla. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 3 1/2 cups of sauce.

Blackberry Nectarine Crisp #24

                                                         Blackberry Nectarine Crisp  (page 214)

7 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

4 cups nectarines, pitted, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup whole blackberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 2 quart baking dish with 1 Tbsp. butter.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. cut remaining butter into small chunks, add to flour mixture, and use pastry blender until mixture just comes together into crumbly clumps. Reserve.

3. In a large bowl, combine nectarines, granulated sugar and vanilla. Pour nectarines into baking dish, scatter blackberries on top and sprinkle with the crumbly topping. Bake 45 minutes, until bubbling. Serve while warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Serves 6.

Just right sweetness mixed with the flavors of nectarines and blackberries-delicious!

Cookies!

You won't be seeing any pictures of cookies in this post because I'm not baking any cookies today from the NY Times Dessert Cookbook. In fact, I have only baked two cookie recipes for this blog so far. Yet, I LOVE to bake cookies!! So, why the dearth of cookie baking? 


To be honest, most of the cookies that I bake are from tried and true family favorite recipes-snickerdoodles for instance, or the always delectable oatmeal raisin or chocolate chip. I have these recipes memorized, so there is no need for a cookbook, which makes for a more relaxed baking session. In addition, of all the baking I do, I view cookie baking as a stress relieving hobby, and nourishing to the spirit. Whenever I find myself getting out the butter to soften for cookie baking, it is driven not by a need for cookies or a dessert in the house, but by something deeper. 


As a teenager I combed through all of the cookbooks in our home for recipes to try. I tried to find those that wouldn't require a trip to the grocery store to make, and usually this translated into making cookies, as they seemed to call for the basic ingredients. 


Today I bake cookies every few weeks, and even with fewer of our family members living at home, no one has ever suggested that I stop making cookies. During my recent trip to Virginia, our grand-daughter and I baked cookies as we always do. Baking these small succulent morsels fits well with my apt moniker "Cookie".

Rhubarb-Berry Cobbler #23

                                    Rhubarb-Berry Cobbler  (page 220)


9 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, cut in 1-inch pieces,about 5 cups

1/2 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered

1/2 pint raspberries

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

4-5 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 4 Tbsp. butter and brush an 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan, with a little of the melted butter.

2. Whisk brown sugar and cornstarch together in a large bowl. Add rhubarb, berries, cinnamon and remaining melted butter. toss to combine. Transfer to baking dish. 

3. Place flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor, and pulse briefly. Dice remaining butter and add. Pulse until coarsely blended. Add milk, pulse briefly, then transfer to a bowl. Gather together by hand to form a soft dough, adding a little more milk if needed. Transfer to a floured board, and roll to a rectangle 8 by 10 inches. Cut in 1-inch wide strips and arrange in lattice fashion over rhubarb mixture. dust with granulated sugar.

4. Bake for about 50 minutes, until pastry is lightly browned. Cool at least 30 minutes before serving. Serves 6-8.

Comments: Sweet mixed with a slight tartness. Tastes like a perfect summer dessert!

Excellent with vanilla ice cream!

Roasted Summer Fruit #22

This recipe is perfect for a quick, refreshing dessert on a hot summer evening.

Roasted Summer Fruit (page 374)

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

4 ripe but firm large yellow peaches, halved and pitted

(8 firm apricots, 8 firm Italian prune plums, 4 firm nectarines, or 4 large, firm pluot plums may be substituted)

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/3 Tbsp. heavy cream

Vanilla ice cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place sugar in a 10-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet. Drizzle with syrup. Cook over medium heat, stirring until mixture liquefies. Continue cooking until mixture is light caramel in color. * Be careful not to overcook, as it will harden into a molten ball.*

2. Place fruit in pan, cut side down. Place in oven and bake for 5 minutes, until caramel has darkened and fruit is tender, but still holds its shape. Use spatula to turn fruit cut side up. Return to oven and roast another 3-5 minutes, until edges of fruit have browned. Do not cook long enough for fruit to collapse.

3. Remove from oven. Transfer fruit to a serving dish or to individual plates. Lift off skins if desired.

4. Place pan on top of stove and swirl in butter. Cook a few seconds over low heat. Whisk in cream to make caramel sauce. Pour sauce over and around fruit, and serve warm with ice cream on the side if desired. Serves 4.

Comment: Like a nectarine pie without the crust!

Full Disclosure...

My last post-Choclate Banana Cream Pie was the only recipe from the New York Times Cookbook that didn't turn out as expected. The pudding filling never thickened properly, possibly due to my leaving out the cornstarch! Rather than begin again from scratch, I used instant pudding...yes, I know that is cheating, and not at all the chef-like thing to do...but there it is.

I am taking a break from the blog until the end of July. That doesn't mean that I'm not doing any baking however! Just today I made Double Chocolate Cookies with my grandaughter. I am in Virginia, and enjoying the hot, humid weather....right now there is a thunder and lightening storm going on outside!

See you later this month!
~Kathy~