Category Archives: Culinary feats

Chasing the Elusive Perfectly Flaky Crust: Double-Crust Apple Apricot Pie

Posted on by
7

This rustic-style pie evoked images of apron-clad moms setting out steaming-hot baked goods on windowsills to cool. The scent of baked apple and cinnamon filled the entire house, contributing to the sense of nostalgia.

I’d always heard that baking the elusive flaky pie crust was so difficult, it wasn’t worth the time and effort. The standard advice was, “Buy pre-made crusts. They’ll come out better.” But as someone who has baked her own graham crackers, I wasn’t so easily deterred.

After doing some research, I began to understand why people shied away from making their own crusts. Fastidious attention to temperature of the ingredients seems to be the key. My first crusts came out fairly decent, but I wasn’t completely happy with the texture. Then this month’s Food & Wine magazine ran an article about making a perfectly flaky crust.

Along with directions for “perfectly flaky butter pie dough,” the magazine also had a recipe for a double-crust apple-apricot pie. Perfect! Granny Smith apples are available at our Native Grocery Store, and dried apricots are a staple in our pantry. The finished pie came out of the oven steaming with the scent of apples and apricot and with a golden-brown crust puffed up into a flaky  top.

Double-Crust Apple-Apricot Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • dough for two pie crusts (see link below for pie crust recipe and directions)
  • 1 egg white, beaten
  • 5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, quartered, and cut into thick slices
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup diced dried apricots
  • 1 tsp finely grated orange zest
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Roll out a little more than half of the dough into a 13-inch disc. Transfer to a 9-inch glass pie dish.
  2. Roll out the remaining dough into a 12-inch disc and keep in refrigerator until you are ready for it.
  3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  4. In a large bowl, toss together apples, apricots, orange zest, flour, cinnamon and sugar.
  5. Pour apple mixture into crust.
  6. Brush edge of crust with egg white. This will help seal the two crusts together.
  7. Place second pie crust on top of first. Trim edges and decoratively crimp. Cut slashes in top crust to allow steam to vent.
  8. Place oven rack on lower third of oven. Place pie on a baking sheet and put in over to bake for 1 hour. Cover edges of pie with a pie ring or aluminum foil during last 20 minutes of baking to prevent burning.
  9. Remove pie from oven and allow to cool before serving.

We served this pie with extra rich vanilla ice cream, which was excellent. A slice of sharp cheddar cheese is another traditional option.

Recipe adapted from Food & Wine Magazine, November 2012 issue.

Quiche de Poireaux: Leek Quiche with Oysters and Smoked Salmon

Posted on by
1

Just a hint of spice is enough in this quiche that combines sautéed leeks, small oysters and smoked salmon.

When a friend recently bestowed upon us three large leeks, our thoughts converged on a family favorite: leek quiche. Craig Claiborne includes a recipe for this classic dish in his New York Times Cookbook. His Quiche de Poireaux includes ham, which, in our kitchen, had become bacon and more recently smoked salmon. One of the things we like best about quiche is its versatility, working equally well as a breakfast, lunch or dinner item.

When choosing oysters for this quiche, choose the smallest you can find. If fresh oysters aren’t available, canned oysters such as Pacific Pearl are an excellent substitute. Add spices sparingly so that the flavor of the sautéed leeks shines through. Accompanied by a lightly chilled glass of viognier, a morning with not much to do, and a crossword puzzle, this quiche makes an excellent breakfast or brunch entrée.

Ingredients:

  • 1 unbaked, standard-sized pie crust (or use one a bit deeper than usual)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 large leeks, diced into thin circles
  • 6 oz extra small oysters (fresh or canned)
  • 3 oz smoked salmon, broken into chunks
  • 1 cup shredded Swiss, Gruyére or similar cheese
  • 2 healthy pinches ground smoked chipotle pepper
  • healthy pinch arbol or cayenne pepper
  • couple dashes paprika
  • 1/2 tsp teaspoon oregano
  • several grinds black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tbs butter

Directions:

  1. Shape pie dough to pan. Cover and refrigerate to keep cool.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  3. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, add olive oil, butter and diced leeks. Stir occasionally, until leeks separate and are tender – about 5 minutes. Place in a bowl and set aside to cool.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs together till well-blended. Add seasonings, salt, pepper, milk and cream and stir together with a spoon. Stir in cheese and leeks. Last, gently stir in smoked salmon and oysters, taking care not to break them up.
  5. Remove pie shell from refrigerator and pour mixture into chilled shell. Place pie pan on baking sheet and put into preheated oven.
  6. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
  7. Lower oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Cover exposed pie crust with foil or pie ring (to prevent crust from burning) and continue baking for 30 minutes, or until quiche is set. (The filling will no longer jiggle when gently shaken.)
  8. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with fresh fruit such as grapes, melon, sliced pears or other fresh fruit. Given the mildly spicy nature of this quiche, it would pair well with a viognier.

Pear and Ricotta Tart

Posted on by
6

Creamy, sweetened homemade ricotta cheese makes for a lighter, healthier delicious alternative to cream cheese in this cheesecake-like tart. In this version, slices of pears have been brushed with peach preserves prior to baking.

I was surprised how easy it was to make a ricotta-style cheese at home. My first batch of ricotta went into Jack’s moose cannelloni. A second batch was split between blintzes and a pear and ricotta tart. Infused with vanilla, the beaten egg and ricotta base was smooth, creamy and light. The sliced pears were brushed with a vanilla peach jam which added another subtle layer of flavor.

Pear and Ricotta Tart

Ingredients

  • pie crust
  • 2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 d’Anjou pears, halved, cored and sliced
  • 1 heaping tbsp of peach preserves

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Press pie dough into a 9-inch springform pan and bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven.
  3. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F.
  4. Beat together ricotta, eggs, sugar and vanilla.
  5. Pour ricotta mixture into pre-baked pie shell.
  6. Arrange sliced pears on top of ricotta mixture.
  7. Brush pears with preserves.
  8. Bake for 50 minutes, or until tart no longer jiggles in the center.
  9. Let cool. Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to serve. Remove from springform pan just before serving.

Moose and Spinach Cannelloni with Homemade Ricotta and Homemade Pasta

Posted on by
9

New Traditions. Smothered in mozzarella and parmesan and topped with Kalamata olives, 10 individual cannelloni pastas stuffed with homemade ricotta cheese, ground moose, and spinach await dinner guests.

Cooking in bush Alaska requires a certain amount of ingenuity and flexibility. Last year when I made a couple of pans of moose lasagna, with no ricotta cheese on hand I substituted mozzarella and called it lasagna anyway. It was excellent. The hot, stringy mozzarella was reminiscent of a deep dish Margherita pizza.

When a friend gave me a few pounds of moose again this year, Barbra said, “I’ll make you ricotta cheese for your lasagna.” She also made the pasta – 20 five-inch-by five-inch squares, ready to be rolled around ricotta cheese, spinach, sautéed  moose burger and tomato sauce. This is not traditional cannelloni, but, like last year’s lasagna, has twin roots in Italy and Alaska.

A serving of two moose, spinach and ricotta cannelloni fresh out of the oven. Each cannelloni (literal translation, “big reed”) is a five-inch-long cylinder of fresh pasta wrapped around ricotta cheese and other ingredients. 

Moose and Spinach Cannelloni

Ingredients for one 13 x 9 inch baking dish:

  • 1/2 pound ground moose, sautéed in olive oil till browned
  • pasta to make ten 5 x 5 inch tubes (cannelloni). (Or substitute store-bought manicotti.)
  • three 6-oz. cans tomato paste with enough water to thin the sauce to the thickness of marinara sauce
  • fresh spinach, cut so that the leaves will easily fit into cannelloni tubes (or substitute frozen spinach)
  • 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1/4 pound mozzarella cheese grated (about 1 cup)
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated fine
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Italian herbs, separated into 2 equal parts
  • 1 tsp ground fennel (optional)
  • 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • several grinds of black pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt (optional)
  • additional mozzarella and parmesan cheese to top cannelloni before baking (optional)
  • Kalamata olives, sliced in half lengthwise (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Place tomato paste, garlic, olive oil, black pepper, half the Italian herbs, fennel (and salt, if desired) in a nonreactive bowl and mix together, adding water to thin till sauce is just pourable.
  3. Cover a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with a layer of tomato sauce. Set aside remaining sauce.
  4. Place ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan into a large bowl. Add remaining Italian seasoning, a few grinds of pepper and mix together well by hand.
  5. Shape a piece of ricotta blend so that it lays end-to-end across one of the pasta squares. Position a few pieces of spinach leaves next to the ricotta. Use a spoon to lay down a thin bed of tomato sauce Add moose meat. Roll the pasta into a tube, pinch/press closed and position the tube seam side down atop the tomato sauce in the baking dish.
  6. Repeat till all the pasta squares have been filled and placed in the baking dish. Cover the cannelloni with the remaining sauce.
  7. (Optional). If desired, sprinkle grated mozzarella and parmesan atop the sauce-covered cannelloni. Top with Kalamata olives.
  8. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and place on center rack of oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
  9. Remove foil and finish baking for an additional 5 to 10 minutes – to melt and lightly brown the cheese.

Homemade “Ricotta” – A Successful Experiment with Powdered Milk and Powdered Cream

Posted on by
11

Simple, delicious cheese you can make at home without any additives or preservatives. What a revelation! Perfect for cannelloni, lasagna, cannoli, ravioli, calzone or the Indian dessert Ras Malai.

A culinary goal for my Arctic kitchen this year was to experiment with cheese-making. I’m all for anything we can make at home in order to reduce our consumption of chemicals, stabilizers, and other weird junk. In addition to the drawbacks of processed foods, our Native Store here in Point Hope isn’t much larger than a typical quick-shop convenience store, and often doesn’t have items we need. Last year, a friend brought up ricotta cheese for us. This year, I decided to make my own.

Our store does not sell cream or whole milk, so my experiment with homemade cheese had one unusual ingredient – dried milk and cream. The only powdered milk I could find during our annual summer shopping in Anchorage was non-fat. Yuck. Thank goodness for the Internet! And especially thank goodness for Amazon’s free shipping. I bought two large cans of powdered whole milk (apparently abundant in Mexico!) and a can of powdered 72% butterfat cream. These would be the main ingredients for my “ricotta.” And by the way, the end product – made with powdered ingredients – was delicious.

The cheese that resulted is not a true ricotta, but is more like an unpressed paneer – with a slightly tangy, lighter taste than ricotta. In any case, it’s going into Jack’s moose cannelloni later today, rolled into homemade cannelloni tubes. Yum!

Homemade “Ricotta” – Perfect for Sweet or Savory Dishes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole milk powder
  • 1 cup powdered cream
  • 8 cups of water
  • 4 tbsp distilled white vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

  1. Place powdered milk and cream into a large pot. Add water. Whisk until incorporated.
  2. Heat mixture until it steams but doesn’t boil (between 165 and 180 degrees F using an instant read or candy thermometer).
  3. Remove from heat.
  4. Slowly stir in vinegar. Milk should curdle.
  5. Stir in salt.
  6. Cover pot with clean cloth and let sit for 2 hours.
  7. Line colander with cheesecloth. I read paper towels or a kitchen towel will also work.
  8. Scoop curds out of pot and into lined colander.
  9. Let whey (watery substance) drain out of curds. I let it drain overnight in the refrigerator because I wanted a less watery product for the lasagna.

Brown Sugar and Butter Plum Upside Down Cake – for Breakfast or Dessert

Posted on by
2

Persimmon slices add a splash of fall orange to a breakfast that will get you ready for weekend chores. 

For most of the year, we rely on the fresh fruits and vegetables that make their way up to Point Hope by way of  the school and the Native Store. This means most of the fresh fruit we get is of the type that travels well – apples, pears and occasionally kiwis. This week, purple plums arrived. They were a bit on the hard side, so instead of gobbling up our coveted fresh fruit right away, Jack and I set them aside to ripen with thoughts of baking something interesting.

The result was this scrumptious upside down plum cake featuring ample amounts of brown sugar and butter. A friend returning to Point Hope from the big city (Anchorage) brought back fresh persimmons, Jack fried eggs seasoned with his special blend of Italian herbs, and breakfast was on. This cake went equally well with homemade extra rich vanilla ice cream for an after dinner dessert.

Brown Sugar and Butter Plum Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

  • 12 tbsp softened unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 5 medium plums, pitted and sliced
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 eggs
  • 1  1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1  1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup whole milk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Place 4 tablespoons of butter in an 8-inch square cake pan and heat in oven until butter is melted.
  3. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle brown sugar evenly on bottom of pan.
  4. Arrange plum slices on top of brown sugar and set aside.
  5. In a large mixing bowl, cream remaining butter with sugar and lemon juice. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.
  6. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
  7. Add about 1/3 of flour mixture to butter mixture along with about 1/3 of the milk. Mix together. Repeat with second 1/3 and third 1/3 of flour and milk.
  8. Pour cake batter over plums. Spread evenly.
  9. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
  10. Let cool 10 minutes.
  11. Invert onto serving dish. Let cool slightly before serving.

Recipe adapted from the Cake Duchess.

The Darker the Syrup… Part 1: Maple-Glazed Salmon or Trout

Posted on by
6

Maple-glazed salmon and salmon spuds (home-fried Yukon golds and sweet potatoes) harken back to American culinary traditions predating recorded history. After several goes at a recipe worthy of this syrup, we came up with one that combined a little fire with the sweet for a taste that struck us as just right.

Maple syrup has been part of Northeastern American cooking since before recorded history. There are reports of Native Americans cooking venison in maple sap. Although these days it is perhaps best known as a topping for pancakes, waffles and French toast, its unique flavor is used to enhance smoked and cured meats and to sweeten a variety of desserts. Both maple syrup and maple sugar are the base for a number of tasty candies.

Gathered in early spring, about 40 quarts of maple sap is needed to produce just one quart of syrup, so it’s not surprising that this amber liquid is rather expensive; a bottle of quality, grade A syrup costs as much as decent bottle of bourbon. But once you’ve tasted authentic maple syrup, it’s awfully hard to go back to cheaper, corn-syrup based, artificially-flavored imitations.

Maple syrup from Yeany’s Farm near Marionville, Pennsylvania, just a few miles from where I grew up. Located in Forest County, the Allegheny Mountains there are laced with the small trout streams I cut my teeth on as a young angler, and where, as the bottle suggests, I kicked out many a ruffed grouse on hikes through the woods. Much thanks to our friend and fellow Pennsylvanian Jack Williams for the thoughtful gift of this excellent syrup.

Maple-Glazed Salmon

Ingredients:

  • 2 salmon, charr or trout fillets, 6 ounces each, skin on
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
  • 2 cloves minced garlic (or use powdered garlic)
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 tablespoon sea salt
  • Penzeys Northwoods Fire Seasoning (or make your own blend in a food processor from ingredients such as salt, chipotle pepper, smoked paprika, Tellicherry pepper, garlic powder, oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, cayenne, etc.)
  • olive oil

Directions:

  1. Mix together soy sauce, water, sea salt, ginger and garlic in a glass baking dish just large enough to hold both fillets side-by-side.
  2. Place fillets in marinade, skin side up. Marinate for 30 minutes or slightly longer.
  3. Meanwhile, place a broiling pan in the oven and preheat on high. (Pan should be positioned near the top of the oven – near the broiling element.)
  4. Place maple syrup in a small pan such as a small frying pan and heat over low heat until the syrup simmers and bubbles. Cook down until syrup is thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
  5. After 30 minutes, remove fillets from from marinade. Pat dry with paper towels and sprinkle with Northwoods Fire Seasoning.
  6. Coat broiling pan with olive oil. When sizzling hot, place fillets skin side down on pan. Broil for approximately 7 minutes.
  7. Spoon maple syrup on top of fillets. (You may have to reheat the syrup if it cools and hardens.) Broil for 3 more minutes. Serve hot.

The heat from the seasoning goes perfectly with the sweetness of the Maple syrup. These fillets are excellent with home-fried potatoes seasoned with soy sauce, Cholula sauce, and a couple shakes of Penzeys Southwest Seasoning or a similar mildly fiery seasoning. Enjoy the meal with a fine bourbon.

Click here for a delicious Maple Walnut Fudge recipe.

The Darker the Syrup… Part II, Maple Walnut Fudge

Posted on by
3

These maple walnut fudge squares were made from an especially rich, dark grade-A syrup.

The fall season and homemade candy seem to go together, and with an unexpected extra half-gallon of maple syrup in our pantry, our thoughts went straight to maple fudge. I love how food can take you home, and the maple candy Barbra created took me all the way to Pennsylvania. (Click here for more on Maple Syrup.)

Maple Walnut Fudge

Ingredients

  • 1  1/2 cups real maple syrup
  • 1  3/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

  1. Line an 8 inch square pan with nonstick foil and spray with cooking spray.
  2. Combine syrup, sugar, heavy cream and salt in a medium saucepan, preferably a non stick one; bring to boiling over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Once boiling, cook 7 to 8 minutes or until mixture registers 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
  3. Remove pan from heat. With an electric mixer, beat in butter and vanilla.
  4. Continue to beat on high power for 8 to 9 minutes, or until thickened, light in color and fudge loses its glossy finish. Stir in nuts and spread in prepared pan. Let stand until firm about 25 minutes, then cut into squares.

Recipe adapted from food.com.

North of the Arctic Meets the Middle East

Posted on by
7

Crispy fried falafel – fragrant with cumin-, freshly baked pita pocket bread, garlicky tzatziki sauce, homemade hummus, honey-orange spritzers and Basbousa cake for dessert made for an eclectic gustatory tour of the Middle East. 

Last night’s meal was a self-imposed culinary challenge: Everything was created from scratch (right down to soaking dried garbanzo beans) in our little kitchen 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Jack is usually the chef, but on this night I wanted him to relax, sit back and let me take over. A date.

The menu included homemade pita bread stuffed with slices of cucumber, tomato and falafel drizzled with tzatziki sauce. A bowl of garlicky hummus was available to spread on extra pieces of pita. Orange honey spritzers, made with our SodaStream, provided a sweet balance to the spices and garlic. The candlelit meal was capped off with Basbousa cake and mugs of steamy-hot rooibos almond tea.

In preparation for this meal, I soaked two cups of dried garbanzo beans the previous night. The falafel mixture and the tzatziki sauce were made Saturday morning in order to let the flavors meld together.

Following are the recipes made in the order I used.

Falafel

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried chickpeas
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 1/3 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp red chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp white sugar
  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 pinch ground fennel powder
  • vegetable oil for frying

Directions

  1. Place dried chickpeas in a bowl. Fill with water to cover. Soak at least 8 hours or overnight in refrigerator. Drain.
  2. Place soaked and drained chickpeas in a blender or food processor; blend to a paste.
  3. Pour water into chickpea paste and blend until smooth. Scrape down sides of blender with spatula if needed.
  4. Place sesame seeds, cumin, salt, baking powder, coriander, black pepper, red chili powder, sugar, turmeric, and fennel powder in blender with chickpea paste; blend until well mixed. Transfer chickpea mixture to a bowl.
  5. Chill chickpea mixture in refrigerator to allow flavors to blend, at least 1 hour and up to two days.
  6. Cover bottom of skillet with vegetable oil and and heat to 370 degrees F over medium heat (188 degrees C).
  7. Scoop up chickpea mixture by heaping tablespoons and form into balls the size of ping pong balls and flatten slightly.
  8. Fry balls in hot oil until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes on each side.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cucumber, seeded, peeled and cut into small cubes
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp dried dill
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Mix ingredients together.
  2. Blend or food process until well combined.
  3. Chill in refrigerator until you are ready to use.

Pita Bread

Ingredients

  • 1  1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1  1/2 tsp white sugar
  • 1  1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions

  1. Place all ingredients in bread pan of your bread machine, select Dough setting and start.
  2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
  3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas are softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.

Click here for our post about basbousa cake.

So, Jack, what did you think about your Middle Eastern feast?

Tastes of Fall – Hot Apple Crisp with Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Posted on by
6

Welcome in autumn with hot cinnamon-spiced apples under a crisp brown sugar topping served with rich butter pecan ice cream.

Colored leaves, clear blue skies and crisp evenings – some of them already laced with a hint of snow – are among the harbingers of fall we love most as the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer. This is our favorite time of year, and our favorite season to bring into the kitchen. Almost anywhere one lives in North America, freshly made pumpkin pies, squash soups, and dishes and desserts featuring the year’s bounty of pecans, apples, grapes and other crops are part of  fall traditions.

Although Point Hope has no trees and has been crispy cool for some time (the autumn crunch under our feet is  snow rather than fallen leaves), we are inspired by the calendar and the full stocks of Granny Smith apples at our Native Store as well as our own memories of picking apples and gathering nuts in the lower 48.

Hot Apple Crisp

Ingredients

  • 2 Granny Smith apples, sliced fairly thin (We prefer skins intact.)
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp caramel sauce
  • 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a medium bowl, toss white sugar, tablespoon of flour, and cinnamon with apple slices.
  3. Mix in caramel topping.
  4. Pour apple mixture into a 8″ x 8″ pyrex-type baking dish.
  5. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and melted butter.
  6. Crumble oat mixture and sprinkle on top of apples.
  7. Bake for 45 minutes.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 egg yolks

Directions

  1. In a small skillet, saute pecans in butter until lightly browned. Set aside.
  2. Heat cream and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
  3. Add vanilla extract and heat until mixture almost boils, about 5 – 8 minutes.
  4. Reduce heat to low.
  5. Meanwhile, beat yolks and sugar until the mixture is smooth.
  6. Add 4 tbsp on hot cream mixture to egg mixture and stir until combined. This will temper the eggs.
  7. Slowly add warmed yolk mixture to warm cream. Stir continuously in order to not cook/curdle eggs.
  8. Cook entire mixture over low heat until slightly thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon.
  9.  Cool completely. I put the mixture in the refrigerator overnight before I use it.
  10. Pour into freezer bowl of ice cream machine. Turn machine on and mix until mixture thickens, about 20 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of mixing, add buttered pecans.
  11. Transfer to airtight container and place in freezer until firm, about 2 hours.