Showing posts with label apple. Show all posts

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Jewish Apple Cake

This recipe comes from "The Jewish Holiday Cookbook" by Joan Nathan.

As with many other recipes, this isn't particularly Jewish, except that it doesn't use any dairy, which makes it a nice dessert for a dessert when your meal includes meat. Kosher rules, you may not know, forbid mixing meat and dairy. Somewhere in the Torah, it says we're not to boil a kid in its mother's milk, and we've expanded that to say no meat with any dairy at all, just to be on the safe side.

Unless the meat is fish, in which case it doesn't count as meat. Keeper kosher can be very complicated!

Another note on this recipe - yes, you really don't peel the apples. I know, I was suspicious, too. But I made a test cake with same apple layers peeled and some unpeeled, and people liked the version with the peels better. The peels got nice and tender in the baking, and, when I used red Macintosh apples, made for some pretty color in the finished cake, too.

I did find a key point was to use a non-stick bundt pan, greased with Pam with flour in it. After years of unsuccessful bundt cake attempts, Annette from Shaffer's Cake and Candy Supplies in Berwick told me about this trick, and it worked like a charm - the cake slid right out of the pan!

Also, this recipe makes a LOT of batter. My first effort rose over the pan and spilled through the hole in the middle, where it built into a small tower. So make sure you put your bundt pan on a cookie sheet your first time.

Ingredients:

5 large apples
2 tsp cinnamon
2 Cups sugar
4 eggs
1 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 Cup orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
3 Cups unsifted flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core and slice apples into eights. Place in a large bowl and sprinkle with the cinnamon and 5 tablespoons of the sugar.

2. Beat the eggs and gradually add the remaining sugar, oil, orange juice and vanilla.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Combine with egg mixture. (Confession: I never sift them together. I add the baking powder and salt to the liquid and stir them in so they're well incorporated. Then I add the flour gradually. It seems to work fine.)

4. Grease a tube pan and dust with flour. Better yet, spray with Pam Baking Spray with Flour.

5. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the pan. Layer with 1/3 of the apples. Repeat for two more layers, ending with the apples on top. Bake 1 1/2 hours until golden on top. Let sit a few minutes and then unmold.

Ingredients:

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Fancy charoses

Personally, I like my mom’s basic, tried and true charoses – apples, walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and sweet red kosher for Passover wine, mixed to taste. But if you’re feeling you need a little more zip to your seder table, Joan Nathan is always a good bet! Thanks to the New York Times for publishing this!

Provençal Haroseth for Passover

JOAN NATHAN

YIELDAbout 5 cups
TIME15 minutes

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Melina Hammer for The New York Times

This is a 13th-century haroseth recipe from Provence, using the Mediterranean fruits and nuts that are still available in the region. Back then, Jewish families would have saved chestnuts from the fall harvest and roasted or boiled them for this springtime Passover recipe — and then laboriously peeled them by hand — but now you can buy cooked, pre-peeled chestnuts any time.

Mediterranean, Almond, Apricot, Fig, Nut,Raisin, Vinegar, Wine

55 ratings

INGREDIENTS

1 cup blanched or roasted unsalted almonds
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried apricots
1 cup dried figs
½ cup walnut halves
1 tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 cup peeled roasted chestnuts(available vacuum-packed or canned)
½ cup pine nuts, toasted if desired
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 to 6 tablespoons sweet wine, kosher for Passover

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PREPARATION

Place the almonds, raisins, apricots, figs, walnuts, apple, and chestnuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until you reach the consistency of your choice.
Add the pine nuts and stir in the cinnamon, ginger and wine vinegar. Pulse once more, adding enough sweet wine to bind the ingredients.
Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Apple roses

Credit for this goes to Cooking with Manuela, http://cookingwithmanuela.blogspot.com, who has lovely pictures to go with it.

A couple changes: Instead of apricot preserve, I brushed the dough with melted butter, then sprinkled it generously with cinnamon sugar (1 tsp. mixed with 1/4 C sugar). I found using the mandolin blade on my grater made nice, thin apple slices.

This is one of the few things I've brought to the Berwick Press Enterprise office potluck that was enjoyed by my fussy co-workers!

Ingredients: to make 6 roses
1 frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
2 red organic apples (I used red delicious)
half lemon, juice
1 tablespoon of flour, to sprinkle the counter
3 tablespoons of apricot preserve
cinnamon (optional)
powder sugar for decorating (optional)

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Directions:
1. Thaw the puff pastry if you haven't done so yet. It should take about 20-30 minutes.

2. Prepare a bowl with some water and the lemon juice. Cut the apples in half, remove the core and cut the apples in paper thin slices, as shown in my picture. Leave the peel so it will give the red color to your roses. Right away, place the sliced apples in the bowl with lemon and water, so that they won't change color.

3. Microwave the apples in the bowl, for about 3 minutes, to make them slightly softer. If you prefer, you can also simmer the apple slices in the water in a small pan (on the stove).

4. Unwrap the puff pastry over a clean and lightly floured counter. Using a rolling pin stretch the dough a little, trying to keep it in a rectangular shape. Cut the dough in 6 strips. These are about 2 in x 9 in (5 cm x 22 cm).

5. In a bowl, place three tablespoons of apricot preserve with two tablespoons of water. Microwave for about one minute, so that the preserve will be easier to spread. Spread the preserve on the dough.

6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Drain the apples.

7. Place the apples on the dough, as shown in my picture. Sprinkle with cinnamon if you'd like.

8. Fold up the bottom part of the dough.

9. Carefully roll, seal the edge, and place in a silicone muffin cup. No need to grease the muffin mold if it's silicone. Otherwise, make sure to grease it.

10. Do the same for all 6 roses. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 40-45 minutes, until fully cooked.
NOTE: make sure the pastry is fully cooked on the inside before removing the roses from the oven! If after 30 minutes the apples on top look fully cooked, move the pan to a lower rack in the oven, and wait for 10-15 more minutes to avoid undercooking the puff pastry.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Winter Quinoa Dressing with Apples and Dried Cranberries

From The Press Enterprise, Dec. 21, by way of the Associated Press.

I first heard about quinoa in college from my math professor, Marty Waltzer, a dedicated environmentalist. He was excited about some new grain that was supposed to be incredibly nutritious but also inexpensive to grow. I don't know how inexpensively it can be grown, but it sure ain't cheap to buy!

Hopefully, by the end of this week, I'll know if the purchase was worth it!

Winter Quinoa Dressing with Apples and Dried Cranberries

The exciting protein news on quinoa isn’t necessarily the quantity (though that’s good, too), but the quality.

Quinoa offers all nine essential amino acids in the quantities required to make it a complete protein (unusual for vegetable-based protein sources).

Another bonus: It’s gluten-free, which makes it a great option for hosting gluten-free guests or for families (like mine) that have gluten-free members.

I like to cook up a batch of quinoa on the weekends, then use it during the week much as I would cooked rice — in cold salads, in hot side dishes like a stir-fry, or with stews and sauces.

Sometimes I’ll drizzle warm quinoa with maple syrup and top it with berries and almonds for a hearty breakfast.

My recipe for winter quinoa dressing is a perfect dish for both newbies and quinoa pros. It complements the gorgeous roasts of winter as a side dish, or can be served as a main event for a simple supper.

Winter Quinoa Dressing with Apples and Dried Cranberries

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: 6

11/4 cups uncooked quinoa

13/4 cups low-sodium broth (chicken or vegetable)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

2 sweet Italian turkey sausages, casings removed

2 small celery stalks (or 1 large), chopped (about 1 cup)

1/2 yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

6 ounces fresh mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 apple, cored and diced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup pine nuts

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

In a large microwave-safe baking dish, combine the quinoa, broth and olive oil.

Cover and microwave for 11 minutes, then allow to sit in the microwave for another 2 minutes.

Remove the dish from the microwave and stir the quinoa.

Depending on the power of your microwave, you may need to adjust the cooking time.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan over medium heat, melt the butter.

Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is golden, about 7 minutes.

Add the celery, onion and mushrooms, and cook until the vegetables are tender, another 7 minutes.

Add the apple, cranberries, pine nuts, garlic, rosemary and sage, then cook an additional 2 minutes.

Combine the quinoa with the sausage and vegetable mixture and serve immediately.

Nutritional information per serving: 240 calories; 60 calories from fat (25 percent of total calories); 6 g fat (2.5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 15 mg cholesterol; 34 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 8 g sugar; 10 g protein; and 570 mg sodium.