Cranberry-Apple Tarts

Ooooh boy... have I got a recipe for you.

Dane and I hosted a housewarming / Christmas party this weekend, and these little tarts were my shining dessert. All of our closest friends came to celebrate with us... they came, they ate, they drank, and they did a marvelous job of making our house warm! We're hoping this is just the first of many rockin' parties to come.

As our guests quickly discovered, these tarts are addictive. They vanished in about 5 minutes once everyone arrived, although I'm amazed any of them lasted until the party after Dane got home from work at 4:30 and tried one... I had to practically hide them to keep him from eating them all! 

And don't let the color throw you off. At first, everyone kept asking, "What are the little tomato things?" and I kept having to explain that "No, those aren't tomatoes... they're actually apples!" You can blame the cranberries for the festive red color. And you can blame the butter and cinnamon for the epic-level flavor.

Seriously, if you like apple pie, you're going to love these. The bubbly, melted butter joins forces with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to form a sort of spicy caramel sauce that coats the sweet, tender apples... and piling the filling on top of light, flaky, buttery puff pastry sends the flavors out of this world. (And I have it on good authority that leftover filling goes exceptionally well with french toast the next morning.) Pop one of these guys in your mouth and you'll understand the meaning of irresistible... betcha can't eat just one! 

Fall's Best Hot Ham & Cheese

So here they are... the first food photos to come from my new camera! What do you guys think? So far I'm pretty impressed with the quality of photos my new baby takes, but I'm still playing around with editing.

Lucky for me I had great subject material for my first shoot, because these sandwiches look almost as good as they taste. These guys bring together the best of fall's fresh flavors, in a way that allows each ingredient to shine... no element is overpowering, but each is complementary. I started with a succulent honey ham - this week's late night cook-ahead - and sliced it thick to make these sandwiches good and hearty. Then I layered on crisp, sour green apple, sharp cheddar, and a light slathering of Dijon mustard for extra flavor. Talk about delicious! Served alongside a few potato chips and a sour pickle spear, these were a fantastic meal that satisfied without weighing down. These were such a huge hit, and so easy that I'll definitely be making them all through apple season!

Apple-Pecan Muffins

Alright... recipe time! First on the docket from the Thank-You Muffin marathon: apple-pecan muffins. I'll be honest, guys, this was my least favorite of all the muffins I made for my professors. Don't get me wrong, these guys are still very tasty... they just kind of look like the runt of the litter next to super stars like blueberry streusel and peanut butter chocolate chip. Made with whole-wheat flour and more applesauce than oil, these muffins definitely fit into the better-for-you category too, which is part of why I chose to include them. The little chunks of apple together with the pecan topping add a very nice crunchy-chewy factor, and their dense texture makes these muffins the perfect mate to a small bowl of vanilla yogurt for breakfast. So if you're looking for a muffin that boasts both flavor and health, look no further. Step on up and try these this weekend!

Sage-Rubbed Pork Chops with Warm Apple Slaw

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!

I'm a little ashamed to admit that I know very little about St. Patrick aside from the fact that he's the patron saint of Ireland. Can I use the fact that I'm not Irish as a decent excuse? After doing a little research (and I do mean a little), I discovered a legend about a man who banished snakes from Ireland, and a more believable story about a priest who used a shamrock to describe the holy trinity. Apparently March 17 is the widely accepted date of St. Patrick's death, and its celebration began as a day of feast to remember his his influence. So the whole corned beef and cabbage obsession makes sense... and while I'm sure St. Patrick wasn't a drinker himself, it's well-known that the Irish can't have a celebration without a healthy gratuitous amount of beer. :)

Another interesting tidbit I discovered is that corned beef is actually not a traditional Irish dish. Corned beef's popularity actually originated during the Irish immigration to America, and it's now served in Ireland more as tourist-friendly fare. The original Irish dish most-likely consisted of bacon or ham and cabbage, rather than beef. So, since I'm not a huge fan of super-salty corned beef, I decided I'd try this recipe for Pork Chops and Cabbage and Apple Slaw in honor of St. Patrick instead.

Up to this point, I had never actually tried the pork and apple combination. It seemed like such a popular pairing, though, that I knew I had to try it... and now that I have tried it I must say, I very much approve! The sour-sweetness of the Granny Smith apple was a surprisingly lovely complement to the juicy, savory pork chop. I think next time, though, for ease of preparation, I'll just buy a bag of pre-shredded cabbage and carrots, as shredding the carrots by hand proved to be both time consuming and a major pain. But it was worth it! So here's to you, St. Patrick... thanks for bringing Christianity to Ireland, and for giving us another excuse to celebrate. :)

Apple Pie

Apple pie has a special place in my heart. It was always one of my favorite desserts growing up, and it was one of the first things I made on my own after leaving home. It was the first thing I ever cooked for Dane, matter of fact. Hahaha... you should have seen the two of us in the basement of Driscoll Hall (the dorm I lived in my freshman year at BSU), peeling apples with butter knives we'd stolen from the cafeteria. It took forever to peel all the apples - especially because I was making 2 pies - and cutting them with the dull knives yielded weird, uneven chunks... but despite all of the hiccups, the pies turned out to be delicious, so much so that Dane ate almost a whole one by himself. We still joke that that was the day he knew he loved me. :)

Unsurprisingly, I make an apple pie every year around thanksgiving. My family already has pies covered for thanksgiving this year, so there's no need to take one to the annual feast, so this one is just for Dane and I. He's currently hunting but he'll be back tomorrow, and I hope he finds it a welcome surprise.

...and with all the tradition surrounding apple pie, it seemed only fitting that my first real food post should be about the beloved dessert. :)

Keeping with Mom's tradition, I like to use 2 different kinds of apples. She usually uses Rome and Granny Smith, but I've had a particular fondness for Honey Crisps this year so I thought I'd give those a try instead of Rome.

Mom also taught me to do the filling a little differently than most methods I've seen. Most recipes I've seen call for the sugar and spices to be mixed in with the apples, and then to have the whole apple-spice mixture poured into the crust... we, however, like to layer it. Keeping everything separate, make a thin layer of apples on the bottom of the crust, then place a few pads of butter on top of the apples and sprinkle with the spice mixture. Repeat.

 

Six apples gives you a nice big mound of goodness on which to place your top crust. When it cooks, the butter will melt and combine with the sugar and apples as they reduce to form a lovely sort of gravy on the inside of the pie. I almost always have some of the sugar-spice mixture left over after making a pie... I like to save it and eat it on oatmeal. :)

Look at how pretty it turned out! Next time I think I'll use at least one more apple... it cooked down a little more than I really wanted. I really only make about one of these a year, so I forget sometimes how much those delicious apples like to sink into the pie.

photo updated on 11/22/11

For a new challenge this year, I decided to try making my own whipped cream. Everyone's been telling me that once you have homemade whipped cream you'll never eat cool-whip again... and boy were they right! What have I been missing all my life? Maybe I was simply eating the wrong kind of cool whip... I mean, after all, the stuff I usually eat is almost always labeled "sugar-free" or "fat-free" or "light", in my feverish attempts to avoid the diabetes and heart disease that run so prevalently in my family. The whipped cream I made certainly had none of those three labels. But even as my arteries are clogging and my pancreas is shutting down as we speak I must say... I have never had whipped cream this tasty in my life.

It was light and fluffy... but rich.  For once in my life I could taste the cream and the vanilla, instead of just the air. And I usually claim that I could eat a whole tub of cool-whip by myself... so uh oh... this could be bad news, for sure. A whipped cream obsession, fueled by even better whipped cream? Maybe my mother was right... maybe I am going to gain 200 pounds from all this cooking. Probably not the best diet to be on 9 months out from my wedding... hahaha... especially with no time to work out these days! Oh well... all the people I care about know how much I love food anyway. :)

photo updated on 11/22/11