This is my favorite apple crisp recipe.  I got it from the America's Test Kitchen, one of my most used cook books. My mother-in-law gave it to me the Christmas Tim and I were engaged and now I recommend it to every newly married bride....and not so newly married bride.


Yesterday was the perfect day to make this dessert.  We had some family coming over for dinner, and the weather screamed Autumn.  I made the crisp while the kids and our neighbor ran around the backyard, it was very idyllic.


ATK's recipe is for a "fruit crisp" and gives variations for different fruit.  For apple crisp it's best to use a combination of Granny Smith and McIntosh apple: sweet and sour..mmm.

Apple Crisp

INGREDIENTS

Topping Mixture

• 6tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4cup light brown sugar , packed
• 1/4cup granulated sugar
• 1/4teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4teaspoon table salt
• 5tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
• 3/4cup pecans or whole almonds, chopped coarse (or chopped fine if mixing topping by hand)

Fruit

• 2 1/2 - 3pounds apples , nectarines, peaches, pears or plums (6 cups cut)
• 1/4cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2teaspoon grated lemon zest from 1 lemon

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. For the Topping: Place flour, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in food processor workbowl fitted with steel blade. Add chilled butter and pulse until mixture moves from dry sand-like appearance with large lumps of butter to a coarse cornmeal texture, about three 4-second bursts. Add nuts and pulse until mixture resembles crumbly sand, about five 1-second bursts. Do not overprocess or mixture will take on a smooth, cookie-dough-like texture. (To mix by hand, allow butter pieces to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in medium bowl. Add butter; toss to coat. Pinch butter chunks and dry mixture between fingertips until mixture looks like crumbly wet sand. Add nuts and toss to distribute evenly. Do not overmix.) Refrigerate mixture while preparing fruit, at least 15 minutes.
• 2. Toss cut fruit, sugar, lemon juice, and zest  in medium bowl. (My Note: I toss the apple's in a Tablespoon of cinnamon at this point too)
• 3. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Scrape fruit mixture with rubber spatula into 8-inch square (2 quart) baking pan or 9-inch round deep dish pie plate. Distribute chilled topping evenly over fruit; bake for 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees; bake until fruit is bubbling and topping is deep golden brown, about 5 minutes longer. Serve warm or at room temperature.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  The apple thieves...I had to peel even more apples to keep up with their demands.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Salmon w/ Lentils and Mustard-Herb Butter

This is so easy and so good.  In my impatience to make this meal I didn't wait for a good sale on fresh salmon and bought it frozen....you can tell in both appearance and taste, but it was still tasty.


Salmon w/ Lentils and Mustard-Herb Butter

For mustard-herb butter

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 1 teaspoon chopped tarragon
• 2 teaspoons grainy mustard
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

For lentils

• 1 cup French green lentils
• 4 cups water
• 2 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only)
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

For salmon

• 4 (6-ounce) pieces skinless salmon fillet
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

preparation

Make mustard-herb butter:
Stir together all ingredients with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Cook lentils:
Bring lentils, water, and 3/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid, then drain lentils.

While lentils cook, chop leeks, then wash . Cook leeks in butter in a heavy medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add lentils with reserved cooking liquid to leeks along with 3 tablespoons mustard-herb butter and cook, stirring, until lentils are heated through and butter is melted. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and keep warm, covered.

Sauté salmon while leeks cook:
Pat salmon dry and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (total).

Heat butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then sauté salmon, turning once, until golden and just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes total.

Serve salmon, topped with remaining mustard-herb butter, over lentils

Wacky Cake

Growing up my mom use to make us "wacky cake", a name I was convinced she had made up.  After doing some googling I discovered that it is in fact the name of the cake.  No eggs. No milk.  It takes literally 35 minutes from start to finish and it's very tasty.  If you need to  whip up a quick dessert this is a good recipe to have memorized.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon vinegar

5 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup of cold water

Mix until smooth. Pour into a greased 8x8 cake pan. Cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. When it cools you can frost it or sprinkle powdered sugar on it or just east it plain.  Yum!

Herb-Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Don't you just love pork tenderloin?? So easy. So fast. So good.  Of course, Ina Garten perfects this humble little piggy:


Herb-Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

• 1 lemon, zest grated
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 to 6 lemons)
• Good olive oil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt
• 3 pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each)
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, mustard, and 2 teaspoons salt in a sturdy 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add the pork tenderloins and turn to coat with the marinade. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the tenderloins from the marinade and discard the marinade but leave the herbs that cling to the meat. Sprinkle the tenderloins generously with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large oven-proof saute pan over medium-high heat. Sear the pork tenderloins on all sides until golden brown. Place the saute pan in the oven and roast the tenderloins for 10 to 15 minutes or until the meat registers 137 degrees F at the thickest part. Transfer the tenderloins to a platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Carve in 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices. The thickest part of the tenderloin will be quite pink (it's just fine!) and the thinnest part will be well done. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm, or at room temperature with the juices that collect in the platter.

this was a spur of the moment dinner idea so I didn't have a lemon or "real garlic" or fresh herbs but even though I know fresh ingredients would have brought this pork tenderloin to another level, what I had was delicious. 

I need to get a bigger skillet to brown meat in.

This is how I like my pork tenderloin

The kids get the end pieces

Even better, Ina Garten demonstrates better than my photos:

Coming Soon...

Pork tenderloin....wacky cake....braised short ribs....apple crisp....curried butternut and apple soup!!!

Black Bean, Corn & Feta Salsa

My sister in law makes this when we have parties and I adore it.  It's one of those crazy foods that you just stand over and keep eating until it's gone.  It's addictive.

BLACK BEAN, CORN & FETA SALSA

1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar 
2 T. sugar
salt & pepper 
1 bunch green onions
1 (15 oz) can canned corn, drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 c. crumbled feta

In a medium size bowl wisk together olive oil, vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper. Add corn, beans, feta & green onions. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hr. Serve with corn chips. 

The Modern

Last night Tim and I dined in NYC.  We went to The Modern on the recommendation of his older brother. The place, located right next to MOMA, was definitely modern and a tad bit loud.  The food was good, a tad heavy on the salt, the two shining stars of The Modern:  the chairs and the wild mushroom soup

I'm not kidding about the chairs, the best chairs I have ever sat in at a restaurant.

Now the wild mushroom soup.  I ordered it for my first course and it WAS AMAZING.  It was not creamy, it was more of a wild mushroom broth with froth on top.  It was so light but so flavorful.  It came with friend chirizo ravioli, which was pointless and I only ate one.

I snag this photo from the blog The Restaurant Fairy:

I also had pan seared skate with creamy grits and rock shrimp, which was yummy, but could have done with a little less salt.  I also had the duet of lamb chop and braised lamb on veggies with a savory jus.  Again, very good.  They are all served in "tasting" size portion in case you thought I was totally pigging out.

Oh and I saw Dale from Top Chef there too!!

This one:

Not this one: