Tag Archives: Apples

What I’m Making for Rosh Hashanah This Year.

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If you came to my house for Rosh Hashanah this year, this is what I’d make you. There would be chicken soup, obviously, plenty of apples and honey, a gorgeous pomegranate chicken and more than one apple dessert—because apparently I have no restraint where apple desserts are concerned.

Most of these recipes have appeared on the blog over the years, but I’ve never gathered them together into one complete Rosh Hashanah menu. So here it is: everything I’d put on the table, from the challah right through to dessert.

THE MENU

Twisted Apple Honey Challah
Chicken Soup
Pomegranate Chicken
Tomato Nectarine Corn Salad
Perfect Green Salad
Apple Slab Pie
Apple Cinnamon Crunch Cake

We’d start with a Twisted Apple and Honey Challah. It’s traditional to shape challah into a circle for the Jewish New Year, symbolizing our wish for a year in which life and blessings continue without end. This round beauty is stuffed with sautéed apples, brown sugar and apple butter, then drizzled with honey. This year, more than ever, I’m wishing for a little extra sweetness for all of us.

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Obviously, we must have Chicken Soup. But watery, insipid chicken soup? No thanks. Mine starts with a deeply roasted chicken stock, which gives it incredible depth and richness. And it’s the perfect make-ahead dish—one less thing to think about on the day of your dinner.

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Pomegranates and Rosh Hashanah just belong together. Their abundance of seeds symbolizes our hope for a year filled with good deeds. There’s even an old belief that every pomegranate contains exactly 613 seeds, corresponding to the 613 mitzvot, or commandments, in the Torah—many of which guide us to perform acts of kindness and good deeds. That turns out to be more folklore than fact, but I’m not letting the truth ruin a perfectly good story. So Pomegranate Chicken feels especially fitting for the holiday table. And those ruby-red seeds make it pretty spectacular too.

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Rosh Hashanah falls so early this year! Have you ever noticed that the Jewish holidays always seem to be either early or late, but never actually on time? That’s because the Jewish calendar follows the lunar cycle. This year, the upside of an early Rosh Hashanah is that tomatoes, nectarines and corn are still abundant at the market. So let’s lean into the season with this Tomato, Nectarine and Corn Salad.

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This is the Perfect Green Salad I eat almost every day—a mix of sweet romaine, bitter radicchio and peppery arugula, tossed in a tangy sherry vinaigrette. I firmly believe every big feast needs a green salad. With all that rich food on the table, your palate needs it.

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Apples are a Rosh Hashanah tradition, usually associated with wishes for a sweet new year. But I recently came across another interpretation that I love. Unlike most fruit trees, where the leaves appear first and protect the developing fruit, apples begin to grow before the leaves. The apple has therefore come to symbolize a willingness to move forward with faith, even when we don’t know exactly what lies ahead. I rather like that idea.

I also just really like apple desserts. And apparently I couldn’t choose only one. So we’re having Apple Slab Pie AND Apple Cinnamon Crunch Cake.

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Get Ahead of the Game

Seven dishes might sound like a lot, but almost everything on this menu can be made or prepped ahead. I’m a big believer in doing as little as possible on the actual day of a dinner party. Here’s how I’d tackle it.

This Weekend

Make and freeze the Chicken Soup and Matzoh Balls, Twisted Apple and Honey Challah, and Apple Slab Pie. These are the bigger jobs, and getting them out of the way early will make the rest of the week much easier.

  • Chicken Soup: Make the soup and freeze it. Make the matzoh balls and freeze them separately in a zip-top freezer bag. Thaw both, then add the matzoh balls to the soup just long enough to heat through.
  • Twisted Apple and Honey Challah: Bake and cool completely. Wrap well in plastic wrap, followed by a large zip-top freezer bag or foil, and freeze.
  • Apple Slab Pie: Bake and cool completely, then wrap well in plastic wrap and foil and freeze.

1–2 Days Before

  • Apple Cinnamon Crunch Cake: Make the cake, wrap well and refrigerate. It can also be frozen if you want to make it earlier. Freeze the cake unwrapped until solid, about 1–2 hours, then wrap well in plastic wrap and foil.
  • Sherry Vinaigrette: Make the dressing and refrigerate. Give it a good shake before using.
  • Perfect Green Salad: Wash and thoroughly dry the greens. Wrap them in a clean tea towel, slip into a plastic bag and refrigerate.
  • Pomegranate Chicken: Seed the pomegranate and dice the onions. Store them separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

The Night Before

Move the challah and slab pie from the freezer to the refrigerator to thaw overnight. If you froze the cake, move that to the refrigerator as well.

The Day Of

Make the Pomegranate Chicken and Tomato, Nectarine and Corn Salad. Toss the Perfect Green Salad with the vinaigrette just before serving.

Reheat the chicken soup and add the thawed matzoh balls just long enough to warm through.

Once the challah has thawed, wrap it in foil and warm it in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.

Reheat the slab pie in a 350°F oven for 15–20 minutes, until warmed through.

Bring the Apple Cinnamon Crunch Cake to room temperature before serving.

And then sit down and enjoy your dinner. You’ve earned it.

However you celebrate, I hope your table is filled with good food and people you love. Wishing you and your family a sweet, healthy and peaceful New Year. Shana Tova!

Apple Cider Donuts

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Are you #teampumpkin or #teamapple when it comes to fall baking? I have both feet firmly planted in the apple camp. It’s not officially fall for me until I make Apple Cider Donuts. I have always made a baked version, but this year, Claire Saffitz convinced me to try frying them.

I was not disappointed. Frying results in a craggy crunchy exterior that can’t be replicated by baking. Donuts are best eaten within hours of being made. The dough can be made a day ahead and stored in the fridge. Then all you have to do is fry them when you’re ready.

Because I never met a kitchen gadget I didn’t like, I have a dedicated donut cutter. No need to buy one though. You can just use a 3-1/4 inch round cutter and a second 1-1/4 inch round cutter to cut out the centre. Don’t throw away those donut holes. They are the baker’s treat!

The donuts are intensely apple flavoured thanks to a dough that incorporates both apple butter and reduced apple cider. The interior is pleasantly dense. These are a cake style donut (as opposed to an airy yeast donut). The dough is very sticky, so it needs a rest in the fridge before cutting and frying. It’s critical to flour your cutter very well. You’ll see in the video that I place each donut on a little square of parchment paper. They are much easier to transfer into the fryer this way. Once they start frying, you can remove the paper from the oil with a pair of tongs.

Don’t skip the cinnamon-sugar coating.

Click here to print recipe for Apple Cider Donuts.

Apple Rose Tart

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Sometimes when I post things, I think, “who is actually going to make this?” This Apple Rose Tart is one of those things. It took a few hours to create this beauty. It is my take on Julie Jones’ incredible Apple Rose Tart. I have been obsessed with baking it for a while now. I finally decided to tackle it last week.

I was listening to Sprout podcast last week, on the subject of Creating a Space for Judaism in the Lifestyle World. Rebekah Lowin was being interviewed and something she said resonated strongly with me. “Things don’t have to be fast and easy. They can be a little bit challenging. Sometimes giving yourself a challenge is beautiful and a more interesting way to live your life.”

My girlfriend Sandy and I were chatting last week, about how we want to spend our time, at this point in our lives. We are both empty nesters. She said she is looking to pare down her time in the kitchen. She only wants fast, easy recipes. I had to laugh, because at this point in my life, I only want to create and photograph beautiful food. If it takes a bit longer, I’m ok with that. I have always had a very strong sense of aesthetics. It drives my husband crazy that I insist on labelling jars with my label maker, in a specific font and not just masking tape and a marker.

So, even f you don’t plan to create this tart, I hope that you can enjoy my journey and still appreciate the beauty. If you do plan to make it, I have included a very detailed recipe and a video showing how to create these beautiful apple roses.

Julie’s version of the tart uses a basic shortcrust pie dough. I decided to use a pâté sucrée instead, which uses more sugar and some eggs. It has the crumbly melt in the mouth texture of a shortbread cookie and I thought it would pair perfectly with tart apples.

I used a rectangular tart pan (11×7 inches) but a 9 inch round pan would work perfectly. The pan should have a removable bottom. The tart is first filled with an almond frangipane (ground almonds, eggs, butter and sugar).

The apples need to be sliced quite thin (1mm or 1/16 inch). A mandolin is best for this job. Core apples and cut in half, vertically. Once sliced, they go into a bowl of cool water with lemon juice to help prevent browning. Then, they are microwaved until pliable and don’t crack when you bend them. This takes about 5-8 minutes, depending on your microwave. Then the fun part begins. It’s not actually difficult, it just takes time. I found the process quite meditative.

Click here to print recipe for Apple-Rose-TartDownload

Speculoos Apple Crisp

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Here’s what date night looks like after 34 years of marriage. Gone are the days of candlelit dinners in the dining room at home. We stand at the kitchen island. He is peeling 12 pounds of apples and I am dicing them up to convert them into mini apple crisps for the freezer. We used to cook together all the time when we first started dating. But then I became a professional cook and took over kitchen duties. I had forgotten how nice it is to cook together. Granted, the CFL weekly highlights were on TV in the background, but still, it was quality time.

I had a big bag of my go-to crisp topping in the freezer so making these went really quickly. We still had about 5 mini crisps left to cover with the crumble, but we ran out of topping. I found a bag of oat crumble in the freezer, leftover from my Maple Crunch Birthday cake. My husband suggested we top the remaining apples with this topping so we tried it. We baked the tray of crisps and had a taste test. The oat crumble topping was fantastic.I played around with the recipe a bit and had the brilliant idea of using Speculoos cookies instead of oatmeal cookies. Gingersnap cookies would make an excellent substitute if you can’t find Speculoos (also called Biscoff). I added some chopped pecans and rolled oats for a bit more texture. This crisp topping is sweet but with a spicy ginger bite. A perfect complement to the apples.

With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, they were the perfect end to date night.

Click here to print recipe for Speculoos Apple Crisp.

 

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats with Maple Apples

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We have been eating overnight oats for breakfast, lunch and dinner this week, as I have been testing different variations. So far, no one has complained. This version is adapted from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe. They sweetened the oats with brown sugar but I switched it for maple syrup. I also added chopped apples to the oats while they were cooking. Their recipe used shredded apples but I found that I liked the texture better with little bites of diced apple.

The final change I made to their recipe was to sautee some apple slices in a bit of butter and maple syrup, because, well… butter and maple syrup on apples! It’s a fancier version, and those sliced apples look so pretty on top, but feel free to leave it out if that’s not how you roll. No judgement here.
The night before, bring 3 cups of water and a good pinch of salt to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1 cup steel cut oats. Cover pot and let it sit on the counter all night. In the morning , add apple cider or juice, milk, cinnamon and some diced peeled apples. Cook for 5 minutes. Let sit for a further 5 minutes. Top with sauteed maple apples and some toasted almonds or pecans.

Drizzle with extra maple syrup because you deserve it.

Click here to print recipe for Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats with Maple Apples.

 

 

 

 

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

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with whole and sliced applesI happen to have a surplus of apples, so we’re baking apple cake around here this week. I have my go-to my favourite apple cake recipe, but I was intrigued by this recipe from the September issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine. In addition to the apples in the batter, they added apple cider to the batter and glaze. A full litre of apple cider is reduced down to one cup to really concentrate the flavour.

The recipe fills a large 12 cup bundt pan, but because I can’t resist anything mini, I used my bundlette pan. I also made a small loaf with the leftover batter. loaf and minissingle miniThe batter comes together quickly. You don’t even have to bust out the mixer.

The baked cake gets brushed with some of that reduced cider and the remaining cider is mixed with icing sugar to create a yummy glaze.drizzling glaze 1

Click here to print the recipe for Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake.

with tea

 

Best Apples for Baking

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headerOn the weekend we went apple picking. To clarify, we didn’t actually pick the apples off the trees, but we did pick them off the shelf at Farm Boy, so that sort of counts as apple picking, doesn’t it?

I have been wanting to write a post about the best type of apples to use in baking for some time now. With so many varieties of apples to choose from, it can be a little overwhelming to know which kind to use for which recipe. Although I don’t find choosing apples nearly as confusing as buying a pair of pantyhose. The breadth of choice there is mind boggling.

The perfect apple for pie, crisp or crumble (or any of those other baked apple desserts, such as grunts, slumps and pan dowdies) must be capable of holding its shape after cooking but still melt in your mouth. Equally important is that elusive perfect balance of tart and sweet.

We bought 7 varieties of apples.apple varieties 5
I took a scientific approach to testing, just like they do over at Cook’s Illustrated, which, by the way, just might be my dream job. I got out my scale and measuring spoons and peeled, cored and cut into wedges, exactly 9.5 ounces of each apple variety. I didn’t want to overwhelm the apples with too many flavours so I kept it basic. Each variety was mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon and a tiny pinch of salt. Initially I planned to bake the apples naked.sugar lemon and cinnamon3 varieties4 varietiesWhen I explained my methodology to my husband he said, “You mean you’re just going to bake plain apples, with nothing covering them??” I explained that I didn’t want to have too many other flavours muddying up my experiment. I took one look at his crestfallen face and abandoned my “pure” approach and agreed to cover the apples with crisp topping. It doesn’t take much to make that man happy.crisp toppingInto the oven they went, dressed with their almond-oat crisp topping. baked 1baked 2Here are the findings of our very scientific testing!

Highly Recommended :

Honeycrisp: Undeniably, these are my favourite apple for eating out of hand. They are shatteringly crisp, juicy and slightly sweet.

When we baked them they held their shape, but just barely. They literally melted in the mouth. The apple flavour was complex. My husband declared the crisp baked with honeycrisp apples to be his favourite. I liked it but found the flavour to be a bit too sweet.

Russet Apples: I just learned that these are not actually a single variety of apple. “Russetting” naturally happens to some varieties of apples. The skin becomes discoloured and somewhat leathery. As an eating apple, I find the skin to be tough, but the flesh, while not as juicy as honeycrisp, can best be described as powerfully “apple-y”. Russetts are an under appreciated apple. 

When baked, the russet apples were not as meltingly tender as the honeycrisp, but I really enjoyed their more gently yielding texture. The flavour of the russet was the most complex and balanced of all the apples I tasted. Slightly sweet but with a bit of tartness. Russets were my number one pick.

Recommended:

Granny Smith: Eaten out of hand, Granny Smiths are crunchy and quite tart, with a bright tangy apple flavour.

Once baked, they held their shape but the texture was quite soft. The flavour of these was more tart, not as “apple-y” as our 2 winners, but still, I wouldn’t object if someone served me a pie made with Granny Smiths.

Don’t Bother:

Pink Lady: Secretly I was hoping this varietal would be the winner. I mean, Pink Lady is an awesome name for an apple. As the name suggest, these have a lovely pink blush which turns into a deeper red with sun exposure. They are delicious to eat out of hand. They have great crunch and start off tasting slightly tart but end with a sweet finish. These apples have a surprisingly concentrated burst of flavour. 

My Pink Lady crush was over once we baked these. They were the firmest of the bunch, almost to the point of chewy. The apples barely gave off any juice, making for a dry apple crisp, never a good thing. The flavour was more sweet than tart and seemed to have lost it’s apple-y nuances once baked.

Empire: This varietal is a cross between McIntosh and Red Delicious apples. Eaten out of hand, this varietal shows off the best of both its parents- crunch from the Red Delicious and tartness from the Macintosh.

Once baked, the Empire apple failed miserably. They became quite mushy, almost to the point of apple sauce. The heat of the oven caused the sugar level to soar and any signs of tartness were gone.

Lobo: Lobos are an Eastern Ontario apples. I had never heard of them until I net my husband and moved to Ottawa. These are the apples of his childhood. An offspring of Macintosh, early Lobos are crisp and tart, but they sweeten considerably as they are stored.

When my husband tasted the baked crisp, he immediately identified it as the one made with Lobo apples. The texture was quite soft, almost mushy. The flavour was pleasant but far too sweet.

Gala: A New Zealand creation, Gala apples are known for their mild sweet flavor and crunch. They are thin skinned and the flesh has a grainy texture.

Once baked, gala apples go quite mushy. They lose their distinct apple taste and the grainy texture is quite unpleasant.tasting 1Tasting all these crisps was hard work, but we were happy to do it for you. The dynamic combo of Russett and Honeycrisp apples are about to become my go to pair for all baked apple desserts.

Click here for my favourite Apple Crisp recipe.

lobo baked

 

 

Apple Beehive

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buzzing with anticipation 4I’m not sure what Elisabeth Prueitt had in mind when she created the Apple Beehive, but my mind immediately went to Rosh Hashanah. For the Jewish New Year, it is customary to dip apples in honey to symbolize our wishes for a sweet year for family, friends and all the Jewish people. There are quite a few sweet options available for us to choose from. Why specifically apples and honey?look at those layers

In researching this question, the interpretation I discovered on the website torah.org, resonated quite strongly with me. Their insight regarding the apple part of the equation, is explained this way:
“On most fruit trees the leaves appear before the fruit, thus providing a protective cover for the young fruit. The apple, however, makes a preemptive move by appearing before the leaves. The Jewish people are compared to an apple because we are willing to live out our Jewish lives even if this seems to leave us unprotected. “

The choice of honey was brilliantly explained with this insight:
“A bee can inflict pain by its sting, yet it also produces delicious honey. Life has this same duality of potential. We pray that our choices will result in a sweet year.”

This dessert is gorgeous in its purity. Gossamer thin slices of apples are shingled with butter, cinnamon and sugar. That’s it. Nothing else. When baked, the apple slices fuse together into a sweet-tart conglomeration that belie its simplicity. This is one of those cases where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The flavours are surprisingly complex for so few ingredients.

A mandoline makes slicing the apples easy. If you have stellar knife skills, you can just use a sharp knife. Granny Smith apples are the perfect choice for this as they are tart and hold their shape when baked.slicing applesBrushing with melted butterIt really looks like a beehive before it goes into the oven.before bakingDuring baking, the apples shrink and caramelize, losing the lofty height it once had. It doesn’t quite resemble a beehive as much after baking, but this is so delicious, no one will complain. Just remember to take a before picture to show everyone!after bakingOnce the beehive comes out of the oven, brush it with some melted apricot jam to give it a glossy coat. glossy from apricot jamDelicious warm or at room temperature, it can be served plain.a naked sliceOr gild the lily and add some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.with some whipped creamOr do as I did and drizzle it with salted caramel sauce.everything's better with salted caramelWishing you all a happy, healthy and very sweet new year.

Click here to print recipe for Apple Beehive.

 

Multi-Grain Salted Caramel Apple Cake

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slice of multi-grain salted caramel apple cake 2 625 sqIt’s time to stop the pumpkin spice insanity! Is it just me or have have you also noticed the proliferation of pumpkin spiced products at this time of year? People are out of their ever loving gourds with pumpkin excitement. I blame Starbucks. They started the trend in 2008 with their Pumpkin Spiced Latte. Breaking news kids, Starbucks has added real pumpkin to their latte this year. Which begs the question, what exactly was in it before? Tim Hortons jumped on the band wagon with a pumpkin spice bagel and latte to guzzle it down with it.

Pumpkin spice m&m’s (just weird), Pumpkin spice Pringles (just plain wrong – cloves and cinnamon have no business sticking their nose into salty chips!), Pumpkin spice doggie treats (no comment!), and Pumpkin Spice scented motor oil (ok, now I’m just messing with you!).

My blogger friend Wendy, over at The Monday Box, loves all things pumpkin, but I don’t hold that against her. Check out her adorable 3-2-1 Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte Cake. She alerted me to the fact that Trader Joe’s has over 40 pumpkin related items this year. If you happen to be a pumpkin lover, head on over and check them out. spooning on salted caramel sauceLet’s celebrate fall the correct way, with apples. This gorgeous multi-grain apple cake was inspired by whole-grains maven Kim Boyce’s Apple Graham Coffee Cake. With three kinds of flour, the texture of this cake is outstanding. Graham flour adds flavour and a pleasant sandy texture, all-purpose flour helps to lighten the graham flour and whole wheat pastry flour adds a tender crumb and nuttiness. getting ready to bakeKim sautéed sliced apples in butter, sugar and cinnamon and added them as a topping to the cake before baking. I decided to dice the apples and toss them, raw, in sugar-cinnamon and mix them into the batter.dicing applesadding apples to batterI used my fancy Bundt pan, because really, who couldn’t use a bit more fancy in their life?

The final change I made to Kim’s coffee cake recipe was to add salted caramel. Everything is better with salted caramel, right? I made a quick sauce with brown sugar, butter, whipping cream and salt. I drizzled some of the sauce right into the raw cake batter and saved the rest to serve on the side. adding cream to caramel sauce This is a very cozy cake, tailor-made for a cool fall day. The graham and whole-wheat pastry flours add a nutty grain-like flavour. Super moist, thanks to the apples and drizzled caramel sauce, this cake is made for snacking. Take that, Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts!.spooning on salted caramel sauce 3

Click here to print recipe for Multi Grain Salted Caramel Apple Cake.

Winter Farro Salad

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in bowl fAlthough I have posted about farro here, here, here, here and here, I am of the opinion that you can never have enough good farro recipes. I just adore this nutty versatile grain. I discovered this winter version in the November 2014 issue of Bon Appetit. Associate Food Editor Claire Saffitz had a similar version at the NYC restaurant Charlie Bird. They simmered the farro in apple cider to infuse it with a lovely tart-sweet essence.apple cidercooked farroThe cooled farro is tossed with crunchy julienned apples and celeriac.celeriacYou have to believe that the first guy to come across one of these gnarly roots was in an extremely weakened and ravenous state. It would have taken quite a leap of faith for someone to come across this in the wild and decide that eating it was a sound idea. 

This knobby root is Celeriac (also known as celery root). I have often come across them in the supermarket, but had no idea how and where to use it. However, in January, when fresh local stuffs is in short supply, you need to go outside your comfort zone and embrace the ugly! Celeriac has a mild delicate taste, rather like a cross between celery and parsley. Beneath that grody exterior lies a heart of snowy white goodness. 

Taming this beast is not difficult. Slice off the top and bottom so it sits flat on the cutting board. Slice around the sides and hack off the brown outer skin. Julienne it for raw salads or cube it for simmering in soup. If you are using it raw in a salad, store it in water with a splash of lemon juice after cutting to prevent it from oxidizing and turning brown.  Drain and mix into salad just before serving.peeling celeriac

cutting celeriac into julienneSalty black olives and shaved Pecorino Romano cheese are added as a welcome balance to the cider sweetened farro. Italian parsley leaves provide a verdant fresh punch. I added some pickled red onions because I love how pickling tames their bite. A final garnish of toasted pine nuts and this salad is ready for it’s closeup!serving bowl 3 625 sq

 Click here to print recipe for Winter Farro Salad.