The cool nights we’ve been having recently and the beautiful apples in today’s box have inspired me to do some baking. So here’s a recipe for apple muffins that are more savory than sweet. Wish I could remember where I found this recipe originally ….. It called for Irish cheddar ….. maybe it was some research I did for a St. Patrick’s Day story?
I hate it when I don’t remember a recipe’s provenance. But this one is too good not to share. Dust the cupcakes with a little powdered sugar, or gild the lily and mix up a maple buttercream frosting (2 sticks of butter, a few tablespoons of maple syrup and enough powdered sugar to make a spreadable frosting, all whirled up together in your food processor).
This recipe is adapted from one by Mary Moore, owner of Cook’s Warehouse. Her recipe uses leeks. I’m suggesting sautéed onions instead. But by all means, if there’s a leek in your vegetable crisper (or rather, 4 leeks) please use those.
This Italian apple recipe is adapted from one in Saveur magazine. I thought the use of red wine in an apple pie was interesting; you may, too. Great use to use up the end of a bottle. Any of the tarter apples in your box will work here.
This recipe just showed up today in my inbox in an email from Whole Foods so I haven’t tried it yet. The quantities seem a little fiddly to me – I am always scratching my head over a recipe that calls for 1/2 cup of something plus 2 tablespoons – always figure I can skip the 2 tablespoons and usually it turns out fine. Anyway – I liked the idea of apples and gingerbread, so I’m going to give this a try. But probably with a little more apple and with regular whole wheat flour rather than the pastry flour called for.
This very simple salad comes from Fine Cooking magazine. The simplest way to “roast” a beet is to cut off the leaves, leaving about an inch of stem, scrub the beet and put it into some covered container in your microwave, making sure the beet is still wet. Steam for as long as it takes it to get tender, which is going to vary by the size of the beet. 10 minutes? 20 minutes? Depends. Carefully remove from the microwave and let it cool. Properly done, the skin just peels right off. No muss, no fuss.
Is there anyone who doesn’t love macaroni and cheese? Ok, vegans. But otherwise ….? Here’s a version with apples. It came from Better Homes and Gardens. I always love the combination of cheddar and apples. Now here it is baked into comfort food. The springform pan is just to make for a pretty presentation. Bake it in a casserole and spoon it out if there’s no 10-inch springform pan in your cupboard.
Last week we had an apple-cheddar pie recipe. This week it’s apples and hot pepper jelly. The idea came from Moore Farms and Friends, written in their style.
I’m pretty certain I’ve never offered a chicken liver recipe in these notes. But why not? Here’s one from “A Great American Cook: Recipes from the Home Kitchen of One of Our Most Influential Chefs by Jonathan Waxman with Tom Steele (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007).
I did not make up this recipe! I think it came from a very broad-based consumer magazine like Better Homes & Gardens. One little jalapeno provides just a hint of heat. Try it!