Tapas

I had lunch today at one of my very favorite places, a tapas restaurant.  For those of you not familiar with the genre, tapas originated in Spain.  Sangria is a wine with fruit and brandy in it, served frequently there.  Unfortunately, it attracts flies.  Spanish taverns began covering glasses of sangria with a small plate to keep them out.  Not wanting to serve their customers an empty plate, they came up with small appetizers to put on the plates.  So tapas are small Spanish dishes that are meant to be shared.  They have a beautiful profile of sherry, olive oil, and garlic.

So I thought, what tapas dishes can we make from items we've recently had in our boxes, or things in season now?  Well, here goes!

Photo via Steamy Kitchen

Artichokes

A number of wonderful tapas dishes involve a strongly garlic-flavored olive oil.  It's great on artichokes too.  Another preparation uses lemon along with the wonderful garlic oil.

Apples 

Manchego cheese is a sheep milk cheese commonly used in Spanish cuisine.  It pairs well with apples.  Slice the apples thinly, soak them in rum or brandy for a couple of hours, and serve with the cheese.  Another option is to make an apple paste.  A creamy salad of apples and walnuts is another classic tapas dish.

Photo via Food.com

Oranges

Valencia is a city on the Medeterranean (east) coast of Spain, and they grow oranges in that region.  So yes, there are many tapas dishes that have oranges, such as this orange and onion salad.  There's plenty of beautiful, young asparagus in the store, so don't use canned asparagus when you make orange and lemon sauce to serve it with.

Spinach

One of my very favorite tapas dishes is this one, spinach with currants and pine nuts.  I add a teaspoon or two of good sherry vinegar just before serving.  This chickpea and spinach stew from Seville is another delicious option. 

Photo via about.com

 

Apples, Apples, and More Apples

Image via Blogging for Apples

More talk about apples?  Yes!  There will be more baking apples in your box this week.  In addition, apples are on sale this weekend!  Just $1 per lb.  So, what to do with them?  Remember our initial discussion about fall crop share?  The idea isn't to try and use them all right away when you get them.  The idea is to put some of them up for the winter.

That's not to say that you can't use them now.  We've talked about apples quite a bit recently (see this and this and this), so you know there's a lot you can do.  When I get a whole big bunch of apples, though, I like to put up apple pie filling in quart jars.  Put one quart of canned apple pie filling, slice about 1-2 more fresh (or cellared) apples and a few pats of butter into a crust and bake.  Almost-instant apple pie.

So, without further ado,

Image via Food In Jars

Canned Apple Pie Filling
Ingredients

• 10 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
• 2 1/4 cup apple cider
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup bottled lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup Clear Jel
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg (which is always better if you grate it fresh!)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves

Directions

1. Prepare a boiling water bath canner and 3 quart jars. Put new lids in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and blanch the apple slices for 1 minute. Remove them from the pot and place them in a bowl of cold water with a splash of lemon juice in it.
3. In another pot, combine the apple cider, water, and lemon juice. Set over high heat. While it heats, whisk together the sugar, Clear Jel, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
4. Stream the sugar mixture into the water and juice, whisking well to incorporate without lumps. Bring a boil and cook, stirring constantly until it begins to thicken.
5. Once the canning medium has thickened, fold in the apples and remove it from the heat. Fill the jars, leaving a generous inch of headspace. Wipe rims, apply lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 25 minutes.
6. When time is up, turn the heat off, remove the lid, and slide the pot to a cooler burner. Let the jars sit in the water overnight to cool.

Adapted from this recipe at Food In Jars.

More Apples and More Apples!

There are apples in the box.  As there were last week, and as there will be for the next several weeks.  And it's a good thing.  Apples are a major crop for Virginia.

Okay,  but how many times in a row can one eat baked apples, or cobbler?  You start seeing the same syndrome as we had with zucchini in the summer.

So let's see what we can do to move apples from dessert to the main meal.  Here we go, savory dishes with apples!

Pork

Apples and pork is an incredibly classic combination that has stood the test of time.  Whether the apples are roasted, pan-seared, braised in a stew, or sautéed, the apples lend a sweetness that brings out the flavor of the pork.

Stuffing

Have you started thinking about Thanksgiving menus yet?  Stuffing has to be one of my favorite items on the holiday table.  Okay, all of the dishes are one of my favorites, who are we kidding?  The heavily-herbed, sage-loaded dish of yesteryear isn't the only option!  Apples and chestnuts in stuffing lighten and sweeten it.  This recipe is the stuffing I make almost every year.  This one includes bacon, whose saltiness balances out the sweet from the apples.  This recipe for acorn squash uses another apple and chestnut stuffing, but the rye bread lends a lot of character to it.  If you can find a sourdough rye, that's even better!

Other meats

Pork isn't the only meat to compliment apples.  This is a fantastic way to make Cornish hens.  Every Easter, I make ham in an apple-Riesling sauce.  Okay, yes, ham is pork.  Preparing it seems different enough in my book to warrant its own category.  Author's prerogative!

Photo via A Touch of Zest

Vegetarian Options

When I was growing up, potato pancakes were made from leftover mashed potatoes.  When I started making them from shredded potatoes, it went up to another level.  But latkes with sweet potatoes?  And apples?  Whoa!  Awesome!  I also recently stumbled across these multi-grain pancakes with shredded apple, which are amazing.

But let me share a family secret.  Braised red cabbage, or Rotkohl, is a staple of northern European cuisine.  It's one of those dishes that is fairly easy to prepare, but improves over decades of practice.  And here's our family recipe:

Rotkohl
Ingredients

• 1 small head red cabbage
• 2-3 tart apples, peeled, cored & diced small
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar, plus more to taste
• 1/2 cup full-bodied red wine
• 1/4 cup sugar or honey, plus more to taste
• 4 allspice berries
• 6 juniper berries
• 4 black peppercorns
• 2 whole cloves
• Small spice bag, tea egg, or snippet cheesecloth
• Salt to taste

Directions

1. Put spices in tea egg or spice bag, or into a cheesecloth satchel.  Place in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Loosen shredded cabbage and place in slow cooker.  Toss in apples and sugar or honey.  Add liquid ingredients and salt generously.
3. Cook on low 8 hours or longer.  About 20 minutes before serving, taste and add vinegar, sweetener, or salt to taste.  Stir well and cook 20 minutes longer.  Strain before serving.

Easing Into Fall

Each September, our family spends a week in the Outer Banks.  The crowds have (mostly) dissipated,  but the weather is (mostly) warm enough to still enjoy the beach.  It's sort of a mental transition for me.  The Autumnal Equinox is about the same time, and in my mind we always leave during summer and come back to fall.  So this week is my "limbo" week hanging between the seasons.

But that means it's okay to start making fall things.  During this time of year, when we want something sweet, I whip up some baked apples.  Whip up?  Yes, this is fast and it's easy.  Here's how.

Photo via Wikipedia

The "filling" is just brown sugar, spices, and maybe dried fruit.  I mix up a fairly large batch of it and keep it in a Ziploc bag.  When needed, you hollow out some apples, put in the filling, top with some butter, and bake.  That's it!

So here's what's in the mix:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon each ginger and nutmeg
• up to 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts and/or dried fruit (currants, raisins, pecans, walnuts and even dried bananas all work well)

Put it in the bag and mix well.  When you're ready to bake the apples:

• Use crisp, tart or semi-tart apples.  Wash the outside, then hollow out the core, leaving ~1/2 inch of apple on the bottom.  Yes, this is a bit tricky and takes a little practice.  The best tool I've found for this is a mellon-baller.
• Fill the hollow with your filling.  Pack it in tightly, then "plug" the hole with about 3/4 tablespoon butter.
• Put an inch of water in the bottom of a roasting pan, and put in the apples (plug side up).  Bake at 375˚F for about 45 minutes.  You want tender, but not mushy.

Do you know what the best part of keeping a ready bag for baked apples?  It's an excuse to have vanilla ice cream on hand!

The Kind That Doesn't Come From Cows

This time of year is a perfect window of opportunity in the canning world.  The last of the peaches are straggling in, and both apples and pears are starting up.  All three of those make for wonderful fruit butters!  Making your own fruit butter is incredibly easy, as well.

Photo via MyRecipes

The following process works for any fruit (or veggie) that you'd like to turn into butter:

1. Cut up the fruit into small-ish cubes.  Soft, over-ripe or bruised fruit works great in this case; moldy fruit doesn't.  Cut off any suspect-looking spots.  There is no need to peel any fruit, and I use whole apples and pears, meaning seeds, cores and all.  For peaches, you will need to remove the pit.  Add them to a pot that has about half an inch of water on the bottom.
2. Boil, covered, for about 45 minutes.  The fruit should be really soft and have given up a lot of juices by then.
3. Use a potato masher or an immersion blender to turn the fruit into mush.  Be careful with the immersion blender, it's easy to liquify the fruit too much.  This is fruit butter, and it should still have some solid texture.  For apples and pears, you will want to use a food mill to catch the seeds still in the fruit.
4. Measure how much fruit mush you have.  For each cup of mash, add either 1/2 cup of sugar or 1/3 cup of honey.  If you'd like lower sugar content, you can substitute up to half the sugar with Stevia.  You want to add the sugar or honey off heat, and stir really well before you go any further.
5. This is a great trick that I recently learned.  Put the mush/sugar blend into your slow cooker and prop the lid slightly off the surface.  Here, I'm using a wooden spoon and spatula to do so:





6. Let it cook down on low until it's the thick consistency of fruit butter.  This will take a few (or more than a few) hours.  Stir every couple of hours.  If you need to let it sit overnight, close the lid all the way and unplug the slow cooker.  In the morning, just re-start the heating and prop the lid up.
7. Once the fruit butter is the right consistency, it's time to spice it.  Never add any flavoring until it's the right consistency.  (The flavor will concentrate, and you'll have seriously over-done it.)  You can add a variety of spices, and even spirits.  Always do a little at a time, as it's way easier to add more than to take some away.  If using spirits, don't mix it into the large batch of butter.  Put 1/2 to 1 teaspoon in the bottom of each sterilized pint jar, and stir in after filling the jar.  Here are some things I've found that work well:

Fruit	Spices	Spirits
Peach	Cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom	Bourbon (oh, yeah!), brandy
Pear	Cinnamon, star anise, allspice (those three together ROCK!)	Brandy, red wine, cinnamon schnapps
Apple	Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice	Brandy, cinnamon schnapps



8. Fill your jars, leaving a quarter inch at the top.  Put the lids on and process in a boiling water bath for 15-20 minutes.  Allow to cool slowly, then test the seals.  Ta da!

Photo via SVkitchen

The above method can work for lots of things not discussed:  plums, winter squash (particularly pumpkin and butternut), apricots...  If you find other spices or spirits that work well, please include them in the comments!

Tarte Aux Blettes

Don't ask us how to pronounce it! My guess is tart-oh-bley. Please correct me if I'm wrong and save me the embarrassment of having people over for an elegant feast of tart-oh-bley. Swiss chard and apples work very well together. Even just lightly baked in olive oil, the two make a wonderful combination. Toss them both in a green smoothie or a salad for some extra color and flavor too. 

This recipe from Urban Cookery looks quite scrumptious and would make for an ideal Mother's Day brunch! With ingredients like swiss chard, apples, gouda and rum, you can't go wrong.

2 Minute Mason Jar Apple Crisp

The Mister and I have a bit of a history when it comes to apple crisp.  In fact, the very first time I met his family, his mom made delicious apple crisp for us.  We had all enjoyed a lovely dinner of a Youngstown favorite -- chili dogs from Jib-Jabs (I will personally fight anyone who says that any other place has better chili dogs) -- and then the Mister and I were given leave to go be super nerds and watch the boxed set of Firefly.  As we're snuggled up on the couch, completely absorbed in this space western, the Mister's mom was in the kitchen whipping up some apple crisp for everyone.  As she was baking away, she sent his younger brother to inquire about popcorn and dessert.  Well, somehow, and naturally something like this can only happen to me, the stitching on my shirt became tangled with a button on the Mister's shirt.  So, in walks my future brother-in-law, we sit up and suddenly I realize...I'm stuck.  Which meant here I am grasping at my top, the Mister is grasping at his shirt, and it all looks very shady and quite scandalous.  So, I had now scarred this 18 year old boy who was clearly going to head straight to his mom and tell her he walked in on us fumbling with my top.  I could tell I was going to make a great impression on this family!  Thankfully, everyone was amazed that such nerds actually found someone to date, and somehow his amazing Mom could already sense I was a comedy of errors waiting to happen.  So no one actually thought I was dropping my top in their tv room an hour after meeting all of them.  And thankfully, neither of us were scarred for life when it came to ever eating apple crisp ever again.  So when I saw this recipe for a 2 minute apple crisp in a mug I knew two things...1.) it needed to be made in a mason jar (because everything needs to come in mason jars) and 2.) apple crisp of this speed will surely save future generations of girls like me from haphazard wardrobe malfunctions, as you'd not even be down the hall before the dessert was ready.  Oh 2 Minute Mason Jar Apple Crisp, where were you in the summer of 2010?  Needless to say, I'm sharing this recipe (and surely a good chuckle) with my mother-in-law!

2 Minute Mason Jar Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
1 apple (I used this week's Cameo apples)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Shortbread Cookie Mix for gluten-free and because I prefer the taste of that mix to their all purpose flour blend which can taste a tad metallic)
2 Tbsp oats (again, I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Certified Oats)
2 Tbsp butter, melted (or Earth Balance margarine for dairy-free)
Cinnamon

Core and thinly slice apple, and toss together in a bowl with the brown sugar and flour until evenly coated.  Add in about 3-4 dashes of cinnamon.

In another bowl combine oats with melted butter, and 2 dashes of cinnamon.

Place apple mixture into a mason jar and then top with the oat mixture.  Then place the jar into the microwave and cook for 2 minutes.  Take care when removing jar as it will be super hot!

You can top with vanilla bean ice cream to make it a la mode (So Delicious makes a killer coconut milk based vanilla bean ice cream) or toss in a few chocolate chips and stir up to let them melt into the crisp (we use Ghiradelli semi-sweet chips as they are dairy & gluten free).


**Update: My brother-in-law just contacted me to let me know he's bringing his girlfriend home to meet the family for the first time.  Naturally, he is having her read this.  Good luck girl, you'll do great...just don't wear anything that easily snags.**

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies

Okay so we gave you A LOT of zucchini this week.  So if you're still left with zucchini and no inspiration, or maybe you just really don't like zucchini, then the best way to use it up is to hide it inside dessert.  Eww, you say?  Trust me, just like with zucchini bread, the zucchini is in there but you'll never know, plus it makes your baked good super, duper...well, you know, that m-word.  We all have a word in the English language that we despise, mind is that m-word often used to describe soft and luxurious baked goods.  I refuse even to type it, and I generally do not allow that word spoken around me.  But suffice it to say, if you add grated zucchini to a baked good, it will give you that oft desired texture that is better just enjoyed rather than named.

Anywho, m-word rant aside, I stumbled across this recipe for Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies from Texanerin Baking, and decided to tweak it to make it safe for consumption in this household.  Plus, I had just enough Homemade Applesauce left over to use in the recipe.  Score!  Now don't I feel all domestic!  So I've provided my gluten, dairy & egg free version below (I'd say this recipe was vegan if there wasn't honey in my homemade applesauce), with alterations for a gluten, dairy and egg full version.  Make it my way and this is practically a health-food!  Because anything with a cup and a half of chocolate chips in it is clearly good for you!  ;)

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies

Ingredients:
2 egg equivalent of Ener-G Egg Replacer (or 2 eggs)

1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla

1/4 cup plus 4 Tbsp Homemade Applesauce

1 cup sugar (if not making the gluten-free version, you can stick to 3/4 cup, as the base flavor of the gluten-free flour pretty much tastes like aluminum so I try to mask it as much as possible)

1 cup Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Flour (or 1 cup regular All-Purpose Flour)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda (or if you're like me, you forget you've run out of baking soda and have to substitute 6 tsp of baking powder -- if you do this, just use 1/8 tsp of salt rather than the full 1/4 tsp)

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

4 small zucchini peeled and finely grated (makes just shy of 2 cups)

1 cup Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, plus 1/2 cup more for sprinkling (if not avoiding dairy, you can use any chocolate chips you desire)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 x 13 or 8 x 8 baking pan.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together egg replacer, vanilla, applesauce and sugar until well blended.  Allow to sit for several minutes to allow the sugar to mostly dissolve.

In a separate, larger bowl, mix your dry ingredients up through the salt, making sure to break up any clumps.  Stir in wet ingredients and mix until fully combined.  Fold in your zucchini and chocolate chips, and then pour into your prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips over top.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean...well, as clean as it can be with all those chocolate chips.  You just don't want to see batter being pulled up, if so leave it in for a few extra minutes.

Allow to cool completely before slicing (yeah right, I don't even follow my own directions) and enjoy part of your daily serving of fruit & vegetables!

Sweet & Sour Beef Cabbage Soup

A sweet and sour soup? I'm on board. Doesn't a hot soup in fuzzy socks sound heavenly?

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound lean (90% or leaner) ground beef
1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 medium bell peppers chopped

1medium onion chopped
1 medium sweet-tart cooking apple, unpeeled, diced
6 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
1 15-ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon paprika, preferably Hungarian sweet
3 cups coarsely chopped Savoy, or green cabbage
1-2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

To view the rest of this recipe, please visit: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/sweet_sour_beef_cabbage_soup.html

Thanksgiving Survival Kit

Thanksgiving is only a week away! Can you believe it? I can't wait to to slip into a food-induced coma after all the festivities. We know that you have a lot of running around to do before the holidays. You have relatives to pick up, a mile-long shopping list and dietary restrictions to consider when making dinner. Well, we want to make things just a little bit easier for you. Our Thanksgiving Survival Kit puts everything together for you. We gather quality produce for you along with other great items like butter and dinner rolls and just have you pick up a couple days before Thanksgiving. All you have to do is find the turkey or ham. You can simply print out the form here and bring it in. The deadline is Thursday, November 15th.

Any questions? send us an e-mail at info@nallsproduce.com or call us at 703-971-4068. You can always stop by, we are located on 7310 Beulah St Alexandria, VA 22315 and our hours are 9:00 to 6:00 Monday - Sunday.

Apple Chips

This quick and healthy fall snack is ideal for lunch boxes and any other time that you would normally reach for potato chips. 


Ingredients:
2 large apples
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

makes 2 cups

To view the rest of this recipe, please visit: http://trainingwithnate.blogspot.com/2012/03/apple-chip-recipe.html