07

Jun

Easy as Cherry Pie

My sweet husband asked for cherry pie. He doesn’t ask for much, so why not? Unfortunately, Susie Homemaker I am not, so I don’t have 8 hours to piece together a delectable, gourmet cherry pie. But I do have a thinking cap and can simplify it…

Oatmeal Crumble Cherry Pie
8 slices

1/2 cup water
1 large sweet apple
8 cherries, chopped in half and deseeded
1 can cherry pie filling 
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Dashes of nutmeg
Zest of an orange (optional) 
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup cereal (I used honey-nut cheerios)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 TB margarine or butter, softened
Pie crust–homemade or store-bought


Tools:
Knife + Cutting board
Small pot + Lid
Medium bowl
Spatula 
1 gallon Ziploc bag
Pie pan + Cookie sheet


STEPS:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat water in pot on high. Chop apple into small bits using knife, and toss apples into pot. Cover with lid and let apples boil.
  2. In the meantime, in the Ziploc bag, add in oats, cereal, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and last dash of nutmeg. Remove the air and seal the bag. Using your fist or the back of a measuring spoon, crush the oats mixture for 30 seconds. (Don’t overcrush to crumbs.) Add margarine and seal bag. Using hands on outside of bag, coat oat mixture with margarine.  Set aside.
  3. Pour can of cherry filling into medium bowl, using spatula. Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 dashes of nutmeg, and the orange zest. Add cooked apples to cherry filling and stir. Using spatula, pour filling into pie pan. Using hands, open the bag of oat mixture and sprinkle crumble on top of pie filling.

  4. Put pie pan on a cookie sheet to catch possible drips. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until crumble has browned and bottom of crust feels baked with a knife tapping the bottom. Eat! Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, and serve with coffee or tea.

 All of this cherry talk reminds me of a quote:

“I never see that prettiest thing, 
A cherry bough gone white with Spring,
But what I think,
‘How gay ‘twould be,
To hang me from a flowering tree.'”

Let’s just hope Dorothy Parker was talking about innocently swinging from a tree and not hanging. Have you ever seen the cherry blossoms in D.C. in the spring? Marvelous!


When I lived in Boston, the street that my apartment was on had incredible cherry blossoms bloom in the spring (which really started in May there). Here’s an old pic and a fun memory:

But back to pie. Enjoy, eat, be merry.

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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23

May

Cranberry Coconut Applesauce

No, I’m no hippie, but I just made my own applesauce for the first time. I saw Rachael Ray do it to top on pork, so I made my own variety.

Let me tell you, I made this in 30 minutes flat, including the time that it took to run upstairs and shower and dress before work. I then stuck it in the freezer for 10 minutes and packed it in my “lunch” which fell at 3pm that day. It’s good cold or hot.

Unsweetened applesauce is a staple in my diet. Here’s how I eat it the most, in ways that keep me from feeling like a 5 year old:

A spread on crispy, warm toast
Mixed with plain hot oatmeal for fruity sweetness
Used for “moisture” in much of my baking (oil sub, butter sub, sugar sub)
Just plain in a bowl with a bunch of cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg
Heated with craisins mixed in and crunchy granola on top
Topped on chicken

This recipe is for chunky applesauce, but you can put it in a food processor to reach your desired consistency.

Cranberry Coconut Applesauce
4 apples, 2 green and 2 red
1 cup cranberry juice
1/4 cup shredded coconut (if unsweetened, add the brown sugar)
1/2 t. cinnamon


Dash of ground nutmeg
1 TB brown sugar (optional)
2 TB chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

one: Core and slice apples into bite-sized chunks. Stir all ingredients in a medium-large pot and bring to a boil.

 two: Cover and turn heat down to medium low for 25 minutes, until sauce is thickened and apples are soft and mushy. Using back of wooden spoon, smush apples a bit to create a thicker sauce.
three: Eat hot or cold.

Eat alone, as a side with dinner, or on top of a salty pork or chicken entree.

In one bite, you taste the soft apple, the crunchy coconut and the tart cranberry juice cooked in.

Hope you enjoy!
~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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17

May

Apple Pie, 3 Ways

How much more American can you get that apple pie? Okay, that’s such a ’50s stereotype, it should be thrown out with white bread and vacuuming in heels. I had a 2-week craving for pie (no, I’m not pregnant) and finally made “one.” The spin? Why traditional lattice top pie when you can jazz it up a little?

apple pie, 3 ways


lime apple pie

apple blackberry crumble pie

apple pecan pie

How do you make these? Let’s get to work.  

As you can see, these were made in mini “pie pans,” 3 different sizes of Corningware ramekins. The apple pecan pie was made in a regular 4″ ramekin, but still made for a rather large serving of pie. The larger one with blackberries served 2 (how romantic!) and the left one with lime had 3 servings. I like big pie servings, so there would probably be 8 total “regular” pie slice servings among all 3 dishes. The ingredient list below is for these 3 dishes total, but the apples are enough to double the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 red apples (like gala)
3 green apples (like granny smith)
1/2 cup blackberries
1 lime, juice + zest
1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans
1 cup raw oats + more for sprinkling
4 TB butter/margarine, room temp.
1/2 cup white sugar (or 2/3 cup sucanat) + more for sprinkling on top
1/3 + 2/3 cup brown sugar
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/8 t. ground cloves
Your favorite pie crust recipe or 2 store-bought pie crusts, thawed


1. Prep the apples. 2 categories: soft and sweet, thin and crunchy. Start with the soft. Slice 2 green and 1 red into bite-sized pieces and throw into a large pot. Pour water over the apples so they’re barely covered. Add the white sugar to the apples and stir. Add in 1/4 t. of the cinnamon. Cover and heat on medium for 25-30 minutes, or until apples are fully cooked and soft to the touch.

In the meantime, prep the other apples (1 green, 2 red) and slice into various sizes, from thin “chip” style, to strips. Be creative! In a medium bowl, toss these apple slices in and coat with 1/3 cup of brown sugar.




 
2. Make the topping. Combine softened butter with oats in a large mixing bowl. Use the back of a wooden spoon to knead. Add 1/4 cup of pecans, 2/3 cup of brown sugar, remainder of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and continue to stir until it becomes a rough, crumble consistency (2 minutes, tops).


3. Assemble the pies. Preheat the oven to 350. Check on the apples on the stove. If they’re soft, drain the sugary water and set apples aside to cool a bit. Get out your baking dish(es), whether that be a traditional pie pan, ramekins, a square dish, whatever.

For the lime apple pie:
Far from traditional, this pie takes the traditional apple pie and turns it on its head. With the zest of an entire lime baking through the pie, this has an unexpected, fresh taste to a boring old apple. My favorite, by a landslide.
 
*Spray dish with cooking spray
*Spread 1 cup of cooked apple bites into dish. Sprinkle with dried oats
*Add one layer of apple chips
*Sprinkle with layer of crumble.
*Top with zest of one lime.
*Cut lime in half and sprinkle juice of one half lime over pie. 
*Top with pie crust, then sprinkle the extra pecans (1/4 cup) and white sugar on top.




For the apple blackberry crumble pie:
This twist accentuates the apple by adding gooey blackberries as its sidekick. The color of the apples become deeper as the pie bakes, making a pretty finale to a homecooked dinner.
*Spray dish with cooking spray
*Layer bottom and sides of dish with crust dough
*Layer apple chips to fill the dish, adding small spoonfuls of oat topping inbetween.
* Insert blackberries into “holes” that the apple layers did not fill.
*Top with more oat topping. Leave “open-faced.” 
 

For the apple pecan pie:

A healthier version of pecan pie, this apple concoction is traditional and yet has more topping than one would expect on a fruit pie. For lovers of crunchy, gooey cinnamon toppings.
*Spray dish with cooking spray
*Line bottom and sides with crust dough and form a pretty crust around the top lid.
*Spoon in cooked apples.

*Top with plenty of topping (Make more, if needed) 
 

There you have it, friends. Bake: 15 minutes for the ramekins, 30 for larger dishes, 40 for 8/9″ pie plates.
Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, and bask in your creations. 🙂



 
  

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL 55 Comments

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