Recipe Review from 8/23/10

Apple-Cinnamon Fruit Bars (Eating Well, Sept/Oct 2010)
On a whim, I decided to try these as I knew I had all the ingredients on hand. I had to do the crust in two batches as my food processor is a tiny one, but it still came together very quickly.  I used walnuts and pecans as my nut base - used up some frozen pecans and the last of my pastry flour, hooray!   My filling was apples and raspberries.  The apples were from one of our early producing trees and the raspberries were from last years garden. 

I liked how easily this came together and the overall simplicity of the dessert.  It is a very versatile recipe, and the link above leads to some alternate fruit variations.  What surprised the Husband and I was it was not as flavorful as we thought it would be.  Could have been because the early apples were not as sweet or the fall raspberries not as tart.  Still, I would make this again. 

Apple-Cinnamon Fruit Bars

Crust

1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds or hazelnuts) or old-fashioned rolled oats, divided

3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Fruit Filling

6 cups diced peeled apples, divided

1/2 cup apple cider or orange juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1.To prepare crust: Combine 3/4 cup nuts (or oats), whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add butter; pulse until well incorporated.

2.Whisk egg, oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla and almond extract in a small bowl. With the motor running, add the mixture to the food processor. Process, then pulse, scraping down the sides, if necessary, until the mixture begins to clump, 30 to 45 seconds (it will look crumbly). Measure out 1/2 cup of the mixture and combine in a bowl with the remaining 1/4 cup chopped nuts (or oats). Set aside for the topping.

3.Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

4.To prepare fruit filling & assemble bars: Combine 4 cups apples, cider (or orange juice), sugar and cornstarch in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 cups apples, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

5.Transfer the dough to the prepared baking dish. Spread evenly and press firmly into the bottom to form a crust. Spread the fruit filling over the crust.. Sprinkle the reserved topping over the filling.

6.Bake the bars for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and bake until the crust and topping are lightly brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Let cool completely before cutting into bars, at least 1 1/2 hours.

Tips & Notes from Eating Well

Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the crust and topping (Steps 1-2) for up to 1 day. Cover or individually wrap and refrigerate the cooled bars for up to 5 days.

Tip: Lower in protein than regular whole-wheat flour, whole-wheat pastry flour is milled from soft wheat and has less gluten-forming potential, making it a better choice for tender baked goods. You can find it in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets and natural-foods stores. Store in the freezer.

Caprese Salad (Everyday Italian by Giada DeLaurentiis)

Bro!  This recipe is for you! 

I had the Folks out for a campfire and dinner and I wanted to keep things super simple and use some stuff from our garden.  A plethora of small tomatoes said "Italian Salad!" and combined with a little basil, mozzarella balls, olive oil and salt, it just doesn't get any better. 

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

1//4 tsp pepper

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1/4 lbs assorted tomatoes

6 oz fresh mozzarella drained and sliced (if using small balls, slice in half)

2 tbsp thinly sliced basil

Make dressing with first 4 ingredients

Slice tomatoes or cut small tomatoes in half, arrange on plate or toss in a bowl

Drizzle with dressing and serve

Mock Apple Pie with Crumb Topping 

I screwed this one up so badly that I didn't even take a picture.  I've made a zucchini "apple" pie before with great results, but for the life of me couldn't find the recipe I used.  So I googled one, subbed a crumb topping, sliced, diced, measured and popped 'er in the oven.

But...I missed one vital step

                                                        ...I was supposed to cook it on the stovetop first...

Into the compost it went.