Apple Ring Tarts - Simple Saturday

What can I tell you about these crispy, rustic, sweet, caramelized Apple Ring Tarts (with a surprise brandy soaked cherry in the middle) that can be made in just a few minutes? Well, 'nuff said.

Apple Ring Tarts

There are only a few ingredients to this:Yet, the flavor is Classic American Apple Pie with buttery layers of French Puff Pastry. You can make a few of these using just a couple apples, or make enough for a banquet. There is something about biting into your own little apple tart that can make you feel cozy and connected no matter where you are eating.

Recipe: Apple Ring Tarts

1 sheet of Puff Pastry
1-2 Apples (peeled, cored, and sliced in rings about 1/2" thick)
1/2 Lemon juiced + equal amount of water
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbls. Cinnamon
**Optional (but so good) Dried Cherries - soak them in a few Tbls. of Brandy (or Apple Juice)**

1) Dust your work space with a little flour and roll out the Puff Pastry a few inches in all directions.

2) Dip each apple ring in a bowl of equal parts lemon juice and water, shake off the drips and hold for the next step.

3) Pour the brown sugar and cinnamon into a large zip-lock bag. Place a few apple rings in at a time and shake gently to coat thoroughly.

4) Place an apple ring on the rolled out puff pastry and cut a circle around the slice with at LEAST 1 inch extra all the way around. (I used the top of a large container to cut mine.)

Do this one apple ring at a time so you can use the space wisely.

5) Pull the sides of the pastry dough up and around each apple ring, crimping and pleating the dough as you go. Squeeze to make sure each crimp sticks to the other one.

6) Reuse the extra pastry dough by stacking pieces of it on top of each other and roll it back out. This preserves the layering in the puff pastry dough.7) Drop a brandy (or Apple juice) soaked dried cherry in the center hole. Place the tarts on a parchment lined baking sheet and into a preheated 375F oven for 20-25 minutes.

Turn the pan once during the baking and if the dough has puffed in the middle just give a quick press down on the center to release the steam and continue cooking. Cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan.

Garnish with Powdered Sugar or a Honey glaze.

GREAT NeWs! These freeze well! Before cooking them, place the pan in the freezer and when frozen you can place them in a bag or container. Cook straight from the freezer onto a baking pan, just add a couple minutes cooking time if needed.The apple slice is just soft enough, but still tangy. The pastry is flaky and melt-in-your-mouth. It's sweet without making your teeth ache. Then, there's that little brandy soaked cherry surprise to finish it off. What you don't know is that I have a few warm ones just waiting for me to stop talking, so~~

Watermelon Balsamic Appetizer - Simple Saturday

Sometimes the best things happen when you're not trying so hard. These Watermelon Cubes with Balsamic Glaze came about from playing with my food and left-over watermelon slices.

Watermelon Balsamic Cubes

They are just the right beginning to a meal (amuse bouche), a palate cleanser between courses or a unique addition to a dessert/cheese tray.

A while back, I was serving a 6 course meal to a "dinner client" for a fund raiser. They had chosen several hardy courses that included a creamy corn soup, scallops with chips, and braised short ribs with potatoes. I knew they really needed something fresh, light and bright in the middle of all that to re-set the taste buds and moisturize the bite. These Watermelon Balsamic Cubes were just the right size, continued the somewhat elegance of the night and yet gave it a casual, down-home tasty treat.Since that night, I've served these to kids on picnics and lined up on trays for July 4th picnic shooters. Their simplicity gives them style, yet they are definitely perfect for a Simple Saturday.
Recipe: Watermelon Balsamic Cubes

Seedless Watermelon cut into 1x1 inch cubes
1/4 cup (more or less) Balsamic Creme or home-made Balsamic Reduction Syrup
Mint or Basil leaves for garnish.

1) After trimming and cutting watermelon into 1x1 inch cubes, use a small melon baller to carve out the center of each cube. Make sure to leave the sides and bottoms in tact to hold the syrup inside.2) Turn the cubes over on a paper towel to drain for at least 20 minutes. At this point you can also wrap lightly with plastic wrap and hold in the refrigerator til needed for several hours.3) When ready to serve, add just a few drops of Balsamic Reduction Syrup or Balsamic Creme to the center and place each cube on top of a mint or basil leaf.
These little bites are full of natural sweet juices mixed with a sour tang from the Balsamic intensity. Make plenty - they go fast and some of them don't make it out of the kitchen (if you're like me :D )

Crostata, Tarte or Pie - Good No Matter How You Slice It (Daring Bakers 11/10)

Tarte Aux Poires Et Chocolat (Pear & Chocolate Tart)

A little while back, I had the pleasure of being the Chef for an evening with Anne Willan (creator of LaVarenne in France). It was a small tasting event at the chic Algabar Tea in Los Angeles. The night was a book signing event with invited guests that included an evening of Anne's travel stories and a sampling of her chosen recipes prepared by...me (gulp). Although I was nervous with desire to prepare and please with the courses from her book, "The Country Cooking of France" (and a bit intimidated for sure), the evening was a complete success. Anne could not have been more gracious, elegant and warm. She included me in the Q & A after the meal, and praised me generously. In a town like Los Angeles - where I have worked beside some people (celebrities) whose work I admired, only to find them lacking in the "how to not act like a jerk" department - Anne Willan was a treasure.When I read this month's Daring Baker's challenge was a crostata (an Italian tart), I immediately thought of the many Tartes I made that night for our tasting. Although, I love all Italian foods and I've made many Italian Crostatas, I also love to be connected to the process in a personal way. Besides, this time I was going to be not only cooking it, but eating it too, oh yeah.

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

If we get very specific here: a Crostata (Italian) is very often a free formed pastry and a Tarte (French) is more structured. The actual ingredients may vary according to local supplies, the fruits that are in season and the availability of eggs, butter and sugar. In the United States, we often just use the word "Pie" for anything that is encased in pastry no matter how big or small, fruit or savory, baked or fried. No matter what you call it, when it's this good your mouth will be too full to talk about it anyway.

As part of the challenge, we were given the recipe for the pastry and it follows:

Pasta Frolla-

1/2 cup minus 1 Tbls. superfine sugar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 stick (8 Tbls. ) cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces.
grated zest of half a lemon
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl 1) Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.
2) Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is coarse crumbs.
3) Pour the flour mixture onto the work board, make a well in the center of the mounded flour mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it.
4) Add the lemon zest to the flour/butter/egg mixture
5) Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients and use your fingertips.
6) Knead just until the dough comes together into a ball
7) Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plasic. Chill for at least an hour
8) When ready, remove the chilled dough and roll out thin and a little bigger than a 10" tart pan.
9) Carefully lift the dough and place into the tart pan, pressing gently around the inside edges and rolling your rolling pin over the top to trim the pastry so it fits the tart pan.
10) Chill the tart shell in the pan for about 30 minutes so the pastry doesn't shrink when cooking.Fill and Bake as your recipe suggests, or blind bake (pre bake ) the tart shell for filling with a custard or fruit.

Tarte Aux Poires Et Chocolat recipe (* waiting for permission to reprint, please check back) and seriously consider getting a copy. I have probably made over 30 recipes just from her book.

Apple Thyme Butter

If you could taste the seasons, Autumn would be this Apple Thyme Butter on a warm, flaky biscuit.

Apple Thyme Butter

Apples are so versatile, I almost take them for granted. For this month's "Tigress Can Jam" challenge the wonderful and talented Cosmic Cowgirl chose a Pome to be the star of November's canning/jamming rodeo. I could have used Quinces, or even Pears, but the Honey Crisp Apples were being sampled at the Farmer's Market and one nibble had me wanting to take them home.I've made apple jam, apple jelly, apple preserves, apple rings and apple cheese, but never apple butter. Of course, there is no real butter in apple butter (just like there is no cheese in apple cheese), it's more about the consistency. Apple butter is made from apple puree that has been cooked down, most of the liquid is evaporated and you're left with this...well..fruit butter. There's no better way to describe it.Then, of course, I had to give it my spin - my take - my "if this doesn't work I sure have wasted a lot of apples" challenge for myself. I'm more than thrilled to report; it worked. The addition of fresh thyme and a pinch of dried thyme created a warm earthy and savory balance to the natural and added sugars needed to preserve the apples.Now, when would you use Apple Thyme Butter, you ask? Here are just a few ways I have been [obsessively] using this sinfully flavorful and spreadable gold:

* Spread on (or as an ingredient for) Oat muffins
* Turkey Sandwich, with Arugula and Apple Thyme Butter - (It tastes like a hand-held Thanksgiving lunch)
* Served as a glaze on Pork
* Mixed into Mashed Potatoes while still warm
* Licked off a spoon while spreading more on a biscuit (yeah, I did)

RECIPE: APPLE THYME BUTTER (adapted from too many books to mention, just to make sure I had the ratios for acid/fruit and sugar correct)

3 lb Apples (peeled, cored and loose chopped)
1 cup water
2 cups 100% Apple juice (unsweetened)
1 large lemon (juice to equal 1/4 cup) and zest
5-6 branches, or more, of fresh thyme
2 cups sugar
1 tsp Dried Thyme leaves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

1) In a large pot, add apples, apple juice, water, lemon juice and fresh clean branches of thyme.
Bring this to a boil, then quickly reduce to lowest simmer for about 45 minutes until apples are breaking down and tender.2) Set pot aside to cool a little. Then press apple mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl to catch the puree.
3) Measure 4 cups of puree and return that to the pot. Add 1/2 cup sugar per 1 cup of puree (so, 2 cups of sugar) to the apple puree. Also add the dried thyme leaves, cinnamon and cloves.

4) Bring back to a boil and quickly reduce to the lowest simmer. Cook, stirring very often and be careful not to burn the puree as it reduces, for 1 - 1 1/2 hours (depending on the size of your pot).
5) When the Apple Butter is a good thick consistency and the sugars have caramelized and turned it into a deep dark golden hue - carefully pour into sterilized jars, seal and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. (If not preserving: pour into clean containers, cool and refrigerate covered, or freeze for later use.)
Now, that I've posted this, I'm going to try Apple Thyme Butter in a Butternut Squash Casserole. You just know that will be good. If you make this and try it, or have other ideas for it - leave them in a comment. Thanks for stopping by.

Chocolate Kiwi Popsicles - Simple Saturday

When I can cover something in chocolate and STILL know that it's healthy - I'm a happy gal!

Chocolate Kiwi Popsicles

If you're wondering how much fruit is really in these chilly snack bars, take a good look. It's literally a slice of kiwifruit that has been dipped in a very thin, but crispy coating of chocolate and coconut oil.

That's it. I could ramble on, but that's the recipe, period.

1) Kiwi - peeled and cut in 1 inch thick rounds, with a popsicle stick in each round. Freeze on a tray in the freezer.2) 1 cup Chopped dark chocolate and 1/2 cup Coconut oil - melted over a double boiler, then cooled to room temp.
3) Dip each Kiwi-pop into the chocolate mixture (it will immediately turn crispy) and place on a tray to refreeze or pass around right now. I've had Kiwi in salads, and cakes, but when I received a box of kiwi from the Zespri Kiwi Growers (as part of a blogging program), my first thought was how much I wanted to keep the kiwi looking and tasting as true as possible.According to their reports, this year's crops are really sweet and yet still have their usual low glycemic index. That makes kiwi a great food for diabetic issues, weight conscious diets and low-fat, low-carb snacking. Here are a few facts that surprised me and made me want to keep eating those fuzzy little odd-balls.One serving of KIWI:

* contains the same amount of fiber as a BOWL of bran cereal.
* contains the same amount of potassium as a banana
* provides the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin C

and...

Folate (good for pregnant women), Lutein (helps prevent age-related blindness), Zinc (healthy hair, skin, teeth), Vitamin E (antioxidant and immune system booster) AND...the enzyme found in green kiwifruit makes a natural meat tenderizer. Who knew?

Now, as good as these popsicles taste - I'd really love to eat one of those kiwifruit while laying on the beach in the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand. So, I'm entering Zespri's Kiwi-contest (a trip for 4 to New Zealand!) - which you can do also, just by the usual filling out name, etc and letting them know. Go check out the Great Kiwi Adventure site.

You don't have to buy anything, they obviously just want to get the word out about KIWI.Speaking of words, my teenage son (who thought he didn't like kiwi) was at a loss for words when he tasted these popsicles. He then passed them out to his friends and it was the most quiet this house has been in a while. Their mouths were full of Chocolate Kiwi Popsicles. Mmmm.

Blackberry Buttermilk Pie Bars

How can anyone go wrong with the words Buttermilk and Blackberries in the same title?

Blackberry Buttermilk Pie Bars

I've known people who could swig buttermilk from a jar and keep on chatting. I've never been one of those kinds of people, but I have grown to think of buttermilk as a rich and tangy addition to food.

I've seen buttermilk made after the churning of butter from cream was finished - the liquid left was called buttermilk. Now, it's often the result of fermented lactic acid and the bacteria is added to the milk to create a "cultured" buttermilk for selling. Leave it to resourceful farmers to find a good use for every part of every food.

While staying at my Mom's house in North Carolina, I very often look through her giant box of collected recipes from years of her tear-and-save hobby. I was ecstatic to find a recipe for Buttermilk Pie. There was no way to tell what book or magazine it came from and was simply called "Southern Buttermilk Pie". I've made the pie several times, tweaking it along the way - mostly reducing the sugar and adding a little thickness to the filling. Now, that summer is coming to an end (dabbing my tear-filled eyes), I just needed to make one more thing from the midnight blue blackberries that are still clinging to the season the same way I am clinging.
These could easily be made into one whole pie, but I wanted to add them to a party table so chose the pie-bars. They were loved and devoured. Thanks for reading - hope you'll give them a try.

RECIPE: Blackberry Buttermilk Pie Bars

Pie Crust-
1 1/2 cup AP flour
2 Tbls. brown sugar
pinch of salt
4 oz. (1 stick) Butter
2-3 oz. heavy cream

1) In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and brown sugar.
2) Cut in the butter, or use your fingertips, until the mixture is crumbly.
3) Using a fork, mix in enough of the heavy cream until the ingredients stick together and you can form a ball of dough. Press into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Blackberry Puree -
6 oz. fresh blackberries
2 Tbls. water

In a small saucepan, cook berries and water on low until the berries breakdown (about 10 minutes). Strain the berries, saving the puree and tossing the seeds.
Blackberry Buttermilk Filling -
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup blackberry puree
1/3 cup flour
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together well.

Preheat oven to 350F. Press the Pie Crust into the bottom of a parchment lined, 9x9 inch baking pan. Pour the filling on top of the crust. Bake for 45-60 minutes. Check and turn pan after 30 minutes. The Pie Bars are done when the center is soft, but is not runny.
Remove from the oven and let cool for several minutes before cutting into bars.
Garnish with blackberries.