Apples!

Here in the Westside neighborhood, we slyly leave apples on our neighbors' doorsteps and run... just like people do with zucchinis.  There are so many and what do you do with them all?

We share. We call Mo and see if he's making cider and wants more apples. We do crock pot apple butter, which is the most "wasteful" in terms of apple-to-product ratio.  A full crock pot of apples will return about a quart of apple butter.  When you have two apple trees, it's a fair exchange.

This week, Jamie gave me a bucket of beautiful, crisp little yellow apples in exchange for a bucket of grapes.  They're good enough to eat on their own. They have a nice tart, mountain apple flavor and firm flesh. 

We decided to eat as many whole and raw as we can, so reserved about half the bucket for the garage-fridge.  Leaving about two and a half gallons of apples... so I started peeling and coring.  I got a lovely little peeler-corer-slicer machine a couple years ago for Christmas, makes the whole thing so much easier!

We're going non-gluten, so I've been re-learning to cook.  No apple pie, no apple crumble.  Maybe one day, when I learn how to use the Bob's flours properly ... and have them in my pantry!

But I do have some yummy spicy Texas pecans, butter, honey, raisins, coconut flakes, and all sorts of spices.

I've seen at least three really interesting looking recipes lately... one with beautiful apple slices curled around each other to make a rose, another with apples simply cored, old-style, and stuffed.  And then this version, so yummy looking, and french!

Ingredients

5 apples
1/4 cup butter
handful of pecans
handful of golden raisins 
4 pinches of coconut flakes
1 tablespoon each - cinnamon, cloves, ginger
Sprinkle of nutmeg

Directions

Core-slice-peel apples and dunk in lemon and water to keep from browning. Keeping 4 intact, set aside.

Put the 5th apple in a bowl, with pecans, raisins, spices and chop coarsely.  Add softened butter and mix well.  

Stuff cored-peeled-sliced apples with mixture and place in ramekins.  If you have any left, stuff around the apples in the ramekins. Sprinkle with coconut and honey. Bake at 375 degrees (F) for about 30 - 45 minutes. 

Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes. Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve.  Top with ice cream, yogurt, creme fraiche, or ...

Braised Vegetables

So braising... what?

 
Webster's says it's to "fry (food) lightly and then stew it slowly in a closed container".  

I proposed that you could also braise a hat, if you find yourself on the wrong end of a "I'll eat my hat if.." deal.  

I do not, however, propose that it will taste good unless you braise it in good butter.

Then there's this great recipe for braised celery, which was fabulous.  I recommend farm stand celery or the darkest, leafiest celery you can find in the store. 

Then the farm share had these amazing carrots... so, I just added them and followed the same recipe.

Ingredients 

Bunch celery
6 - 8 carrots
1 onion, chopped
Several tablespoons of butter, I leave that to your conscience Pepper and thyme to taste. 
Tablespoon(ish) of Better than Bullion. I like the Veggie version.

Directions

Cut celery and carrots on the diagonal, because it's so much cooler that way. Cut as thinly as your patience allows. Reserve some celery leaves for garnish.

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. 

Toss in onion, go for the slightly caramelized approach.

Add celery and carrots and pepper.  

Sauté lightly, then cover. Wait about 10 minutes. The veggies will steam themselves and you can pick up the yummy caramelized bits off the bottom of the pan.  and cook until it starts to become tender. 

To make the broth, add your Better than Bullion to the veggie liquid. Spike the heat a bit and mix well, while reducing the liquid.  
Taste for seasoning and serve immediately, garnished with reserved chopped leaves.

We tried it again and added chopped cabbage, extra-yum!