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Honey Apple Pie

March 24, 2011 by 1 Comment

I’ve been swimming in apples lately. Every week, like clockwork, I get two pounds of apples dropped on my doorstep by the local produce ninjas. I’ve made a lot things with them so far: last post’s pork, apple cinnamon mini muffins, chicken salad with apples, cabbage with apples and onions … I’m like Bubba from Forrest Gump. The apples have all been really delicious, but I’m pretty eagerly awaiting not-apples.

Since I had all these apples, obviously pie had to be made. I figured I’d make it with the local honey I got, which is apparently made pretty close to my house [which is kind of alarming - have you seen my neighborhood?!]. I had wanted to make a pie that was a little less sweet than my normal one, so I figured using honey (and less of it) would be a good way to achieve that. Well, honey and a good dose of ginger and cinnamon.

Honey Apple Pie

7 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons butter, chilled and diced
1 pie crust, homemade or store bought

1 1/2 cup quick oats
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, toss apples with honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice. Place in the pie crust and then sprinkle diced butter pieces over the apples. For the topping, mix together the oats, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the pie and bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until the pie is bubbling and the top is brown. Let cool and serve at room temperature.

This is really good; I should have let mine cook longer, but the flavor was just what I wanted. It was slightly spicy from the ginger and had a nice warmth to it from the other spices. While the honey lent some sweetness, it wasn’t cloying which I was slightly apprehensive about. And to give you a better idea about its taste: it was mostly gone within 3 days. There are only two of us that live here.

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Crockpot Pork Shoulder

March 11, 2011 by 2 Comments

I don’t use my crockpot enough. I don’t know why, because I’ve always had success with any recipe I’ve tried, so it’s nothing there’s been anything to deter me. More likely than not it’s laziness; even though crockpot cooking is easy, it still involves a level of commitment to preparing things well in advance which I sometimes lack. I got a nice 3.5 qt crockpot for Christmas and it’s the perfect size for myself and my husband, so I really should start utilizing it more.

I had an abundance of apples from my Boston Organics delivery, so I decided to use them in a savory application with some onions and a pork shoulder. This was such an easy dish to put together: I got it ready after I made dinner one night and my husband turned on the crockpot in the morning. It cooked for about 9 hours total and it was so good. The pork was tender and infused with a wonderful apple flavor and the onions were a golden brown and so sweet.

Crockpot Pork Shoulder

3lb pork shoulder, bone in
2 apples, sliced in eighths
2 onions, sliced in thick rings
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
salt and pepper to taste

Place one layer of apples and onions on the bottom of the crockpot and then arrange the pork on top of those. Scatter the rest of the apples and onions around the pork shoulder and add in the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for 8 – 10 hours, drain liquids off and serve the pork along with the apples and onions.

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Bacon makes everything better.

August 20, 2009 by 2 Comments

I’ve been looking for something different to make, and I stumbled across this recipe on the Food Network website. I figured I could slide it by the husband since it had bacon in it, and the dressing intrigued me. I was a bit concerned because there weren’t that many reviews, but the few that are on there are favorable.

So I came home from work tonight [TONIGHT! You are getting same day posting here, people!] with a mission to make this dish, along with some chicken breast that would of course be cooked in the leftover bacon drippings. As if you had to ask! I’m actually somewhat insulted that would even come into question.

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The first step is to cook the bacon, and I used six thick slices; the recipe only calls for four, but I knew that the husband would eat at least one slice while waiting for everything to be ready and I may have been tempted to as well [I resisted, though!]. Then once the bacon was nice and crisp, I reserved 2 tablespoons of the fat for the dressing, and let the rest stay in the pan for the chicken breast. The breasts were pounded [hee] somewhat thin, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic, and then just cooked in the pan until they had a nice sear on them and were fully cooked.

For the salad, I sliced a McIntosh apple and then put it in a big bowl along with a 10 oz bag of pre-washed baby spinach leaves from the grocery store. Then I diced the bacon and added that in there as well. The prep on this was really easy, and honestly, even without the dressing the salad looked pretty tasty.

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With the reserved bacon fat, I added 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard, and 1 teaspoon of sugar, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. That came to a boil, and then everything was pretty much ready. Add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat everything evenly.

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See? It looks great. The taste, however, was not quite as good. It was decent – I think the husband enjoyed it more than I did. I felt like there was too much mustard; next time I think I’d do half the amount of mustard and maybe some white wine, or something else? It needed more flavor, which I know sounds weird considering the ingredients. Part of me thinks maybe some garlic [because what isn't better with garlic?] or something to brighten the flavor. I don’t know! I’ll have to mess around with it next time.

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