Apple Crisp

This dish is such a classic and, especially for those of us in New England who are swimming in apples from over-enthusiastic excursions to our local orchards, it is an excellent way to use up a solid batch of apples.  I only varied from the traditional recipe a little.  Instead of rolled oats, I used some toasted granola.  Also, we had a couple kiwis from our Boston Organics box and I thought it would be fun to add them to the recipe.  It came out good!

It's easiest to think of it in two steps: the apple layer and the "crisp" topping.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.


The apple layer.  You'll need:

• 4-5 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped (adds up to a little over 6 cups)
• 2 kiwis, peeled and chopped
  
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (just a little to bring out the flavor)
• 1/2 lemon, to sprinkle over the apple mix

 

Throw everything into a bowl and mix.  Layer into the bottom of well-buttered 8" baking pan.  Don't worry if it takes up most of the space, since the crisp won't take up too much room.

 The crisp layer.  You'll need:

• 2/3 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. granola (can also use rolled oats)
• 1/2 c. chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
• 5 tbsp cold butter, chopped up into small pieces. 
  

Throw the crisp ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend lightly.  Don't let it get too smooth (the cold butter should help prevent that from happening). 

Pour the crisp over the apple/kiwi mix and stick in the oven.

Let bake for about 40 minutes and done.

Kanelsnegle

I was looking for a recipe for a cinnamon pastry that was smaller, cuter, and a little lighter than your run-of-the-mill cinnamon buns. After finding nothing in English, Lars saved me by mentioning a Danish pastry called kanelsnegle ("cinnamon snails" in Danish). They are perfect and cute as hell! There are a ton of recipes floating around in Danish and a surprisingly large amount in English as well (I was just using the wrong search terms, I guess). I got this recipe from Beatie's Bentos, liking it most for its simplicity.

You'll need:

• 3-4 tablespoons of melted butter (for dough), 2-3 tablespoons of soft butter (for filling)
  
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 oz. dry yeast (= 14 g = 2 sachets) (If using fresh yeast cakes, use 35 grams)
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  

First you start the dough. It's a little bit tricky to get the melted butter and milk to the exact right temperature for the yeast (this is tricky with doughs in general). You want it to be warm, but not too hot or cold. So I add the butter immediately after being melted to the milk, and then immediately add the yeast. Then stir. As you're stirring, start dropping the flour in bit by bit.

Once you have your dough, sprinkle flour on the (clean) countertop for rolling. Roll it into a rectangle. The recipe in the link says to make it a little less than 1/2 inch thick, but I went for thinner, which may or may not have been a mistake. You'll get a higher yield, but the pastries will also be a little crunchier.

Put together the filling by mixing cinnamon and brown sugar with the 2-3 tablespoons of soft butter. (If you roll the dough out thinly, you might wanna go with 3 tablespoons of butter since you'll have more surface area to work with.) Spread the filling around the rectangle.

Now you roll. Hand roll the dough up along the short length of the rectangle so you have a long tube of kanelsnegle dough. Cut it up into a little over 1/2 inch slices and place each cross section on a baking pan. Try to keep some space in between the snegle (snails) for when they rise. Cover them with a cloth and let them rise for 15 minutes, in the meanwhile preheating the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake for 10-15 minutes (testing if ready by tasting, of course).

This goes beautifully with coffee. Especially when the kanelsnegle are still warm.

Pear Galette

It has been raining all day and it is hard to deny that it's autumn now. I wanted to bake something today to make the house cozy (without resorting to the heater - then that's really admitting defeat). Our fruit and veggie box gave us four pears on Wednesday, so I decided a Pear Galette would do just the trick. After that was in the oven, Lars heated up some apple cider, sprucing it up with grated ginger and a shot of rum. Now we're ready for some Saturday afternoon indulgence. Check it out.




I adapted the recipe from one in "The Ultimate Cook Book" (UCB), but substituted the lemon with lime, since that's what we had.  It's basically what it looks like: a pie-like crust (with plenty of butter and shortening) and thin pear slices winding their way around the inside.  Sprinkle the pear with cinnamon, lime, and sugar (and some more butter), stick it in the oven and ta-da!  I probably could've made the remaining crust more beautisome, but am pretty proud of myself for getting through this one without too many hitches in the first place.



The house is, in fact, now cozy.