Apples (cont.)

The bar has become my fallback dessert. It feels a little more gourmet than a cookie but only takes a tiny bit more effort. I used a recipe from allrecipes.com that was originally for a blueberry bar. The ingredient list is short and sweet:

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)
• 2 large apples thinly sliced
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 teaspoons cornstarch

Next time I'll add more apple, I would have liked to have a thicker layer. This makes a BIG batch, not to worry, they freeze well!
Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and cinnamon, if desired. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the apples. Sprinkle the apple mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the apple layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Apples!

I know I'm a little late to the apple craze/season but I suddenly found myself with 10 pounds of Fiji's. You know when you go to a store and use your card to pay for a pack of gum and some trail mix that total $4.10 (with tax) and the sweet woman working the cash register reminds you that they only accept cards for purchases over $5? Do you take the hit and let them dock an extra 50 cents on? Or do you quickly scan for something in the $1 range close to the register because Damn These People Aren't Making Money Off Me! This woman was really pushing the apples. We were at Remlinger Farm at the tail end of apple season and apparently they reaped more than they bargained for. Homegirl was not letting us out of that place without a wheelbarrow of apples. So we left with 10 pounds of fiji's for 90 cents, that's how we roll.
My mind already started racking through apple recipes on the drive home. I wanted sweet and savory. That brings us to Apple Cheddar scones.
They start with roasted apples.
They get mixed with shredded cheddar, an egg, half and half, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
It's kneaded and formed into a circle shape and cut into quarters.
Brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with sea salt.
Sweet and savory goodness.
Recipe adapted from Smitten.

Another apple recipe coming soon!

Roasted Beets and Squash

Posting has been slow lately. It may have something to do with this:
Our kitchen wasn't really built for two. I've gotten very good at pivoting.
Beets and Squash. Feels like fall, doesn't it? Maybe I'm a little late but Seattle has shown some summer weather it was hoarding from June through September.

This is one of those recipes that gets thrown together because it's what you have on hand. Do you ever feel like a meal is not really a meal unless there's meat? No? Just me.
Well consider this your meat. It's red (ish), it's super rich and flavorful and, it bleeds (stains).
Mix that with with your chopped squash (any type you like)
Toss with olive oil, sea salt, cumin, pepper and onion. Roast at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Add one can of chickpeas, toss. Roast for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven, toss with feta. Serve in a bowl. Top with chopped green onion...or anything green. Chives, parsley, whatever.
You won't miss the meat. Promise.

The Most Versatile Dough. Ever.

Last Thanksgiving I tried a new focaccia recipe, it involved two of my favorites: caramelized onion and rosemary. The dough is not fussy, it's forgiving, versatile, flavorful but not overpowering, crusty but moist. So, back to Thanksgiving. Holidays are generally a time to use an old and trusted recipe but for some reason, I always end up testing new ones that often result in disasters. Not this time.
Quality bread often gets forgotten on Thanksgiving and Christmas. When there's stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, cranberry sauce (from a can-the only way to eat it), pie, cookies, bread tends to take the back burner. It's always the one that gets thrown together at the last minute. It's generally that person who can't really contribute to the meal in the home made sense. The guy (or gal) who offers, "I'll bring the rolls!" They get stripped from their plastic bag and thrown into a bowl to look semi-home made. Not this time!

It's true, bread may not have a place at the actual holiday meal, instead, it's time to shine comes in the days following. Hoard a couple of these rolls, you'll need them for leftover turkey, cranberry sauce and mayo. Alright, maybe the mayo isn't a leftover but who doesn't keep that in the fridge?

One of the reasons I love this dough so much is it's shelf life in the fridge/freezer. It will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks. The freezer? Fuhgettabout it, it'll last longer than you can keep it there. This dough has yet to fail me.

It's worked as the base for eggplant bruschetta:

Braided breakfast bread:

Steak sammies with goat cheese and wilted arugula:

Making the pizza dough takes a great amount of focus:
James is a little more relaxed:

And finally, the pizza:
Find out what this dough can do for YOU. Adapted from BakeorBreak.com

• 2 & 3/4 cups lukewarm water
• 1 & 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1 & 1/2 packets)
• 1 & 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 & 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix yeast, salt, sugar, and olive oil with the water in a bowl or lidded, non-airtight food container. Mix in flour using a spoon (I usually can't get it all incorporated without lightly kneading), food processor with dough attachment, or stand mixer with dough hook. Cover loosely and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses or flattens on top (about 2 hours). After the initial rise, the dough can be used but it's easier to work with after it's chilled. Refrigerate in a lidded, non-airtight container.

Dreamy Mixed Nut Tart

I love nuts. Wait, not like that. Seriously though, I don't discriminate, I love all varieties (except Brazilian). I like them plain, salted, roasted, caramelized, clustered with granola, chopped in cookies, squeezed into almond milk (how do they make that stuff?), sprinkled over a salad, blended into butter...you get the point. When I found a recipe that called for a light creamy, pie-like base covered in almonds, pecans and hazelnuts, it was only a matter of time before I made it mine.
Whip up this quick (besides the freezing time) fail-proof tart shell.
Bake the tart. Don't forget to bake the tart, not that I've ever done that.
Lightly toast nuts. Choose any type you love.
Gather ingredients for the glaze and filling. Lay them out so you feel like a professional taping a show. Bonus: if you're the cook, you don't have to clean up anything!

Recipe adapted from Caroline at A Cozy Kitchen:
1 ½ cups unsalted mixed nuts
½ cup superfine sugar or powdered sugar
½ cup whipping cream, plus 2 tablespoons
1 cup creme fraiche
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat together the cream fraiche, brown sugar, ½ cup of cream and vanilla in a bowl until smooth and creamy. If the mixture is runny, continue beating until mixture begins to resemble whipped cream. Pour into the tart shell and smooth out evenly.
Sprinkle with toasted nuts and drizzle with glaze!
Enjoy!

Quick Weeknight Din

I usually like to have a game plan before making dinner. Actually, if I'm really organized, I like to have a few dinners planned out on Sunday, go to the grocery, then feel like a grown up come Monday when I have a plan for dinner AND all the ingredients to make it happen. Or most of the ingredients, save a few James has to pick up on the way home. Then there are the majority of trips to the grocery store where I walk aimlessly through the aisles. I find a couple of new things that look good, I'm a sucker for packaging. I pick up things I know I like, squash, sugar (I just ran out) coffee, cereal, shrimp, apples (honey crisp), goat cheese and tomatoes. This is also the way I pack (except my closet only has one aisle). I find single items that I like without forming any outfits. I arrive at my destination to realize I have a cute dress I want to wear but I don't have the right shoes! Like the single food items, I like them all on their own but I put no thought into arranging them to create a meal. My lack of organization finally paid off. This is something I'll make again, intentionally.


Blanch some green and yellow zuchinni.
Let the zucchini hang out in the ice bath. Boil any type of pasta you like, I used angel hair. Saute shrimp with olive oil, garlic, basil and several halved cherry tomatoes.
Mix shrimp with zucchini and pour over the pasta.
Now, this is the most important step. Listen carefully. Generously sprinkle with goat cheese. Please. Please?

Mini Blackberry Tarts

I always mourn the end of summer. I blame most of it on connotations of going back to school. Even though I'm no longer in school, I still get a tinge of that dread-knowing my days of freedom were few and it'd be another nine long months before it came around again. The end of summer in Seattle has finally given me something to look forward to: blackberries. I love blackberries and for me, there is no better place to be at the end of August than Vashon. Blackberry bushes plague the island. Literally, they're rampant, considered a pesky weed. A pesky weed that I would gladly give a home.

Beware! Blackberries stain. Everything.
It's worth it. I wanted to put them in something where they were the main event. They're too good to smother with sugar and cream. I thought of a cobbler but I wanted something new, more portable. Behold, the mini blackberry tart.

The tart is simple:
1 cup whole wheat flour,
1 cup all-purpose flour,
1/2 cup of corn meal mixed with a
8 tbsp butter
Mix until a coarse texture forms

Add:
1/4 cup of fat free half and half (is that an oxy-moron?)
two egg yolks.

Form into what ever shape vessel you want for the blackberry filling. Freeze for at least 30 min.
Simmer 1.5 cups of blackberries with half a cup of brown sugar. I added some lime zest and shredded coconut in attempt to prove that summer is NOT over. Let cool.
Pour into tart shells.
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.
Do me a favor? Please? Eat them when they're warm.