APPLE CROW’S NEST, vintage recipe

APPLE CROW’S NEST

I came across this vintage recipe that uses apples, but since I had a bag of pears from Christmas, I decided to use them instead and reduce the sugar.  

Not only did the name catch my attention but so did the presentation of the dessert.  Basically it is like the Blueberry Grunt made in the Maritimes but not flipped over.  How creative!  
This recipe is a keeper and showstopper for brunches

APPLE CROW’S NEST

• 4 med. tart apples* I used pears
• 1 c. flour
• 2 tbsp. baking powder* I used only 1 Tbsp
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 3 tbsp. shortening* I used about 4 T butter
• 1/3 c. milk* I used more milk about 3/4c 

Melt butter in cast iron skillet

Slice apples, arrange apple slices 
Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Since Pears are so sweet, I did not use sugar.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  
Cut in the shortening/butter. 
Add milk to make a soft dough and spread over apples.(wet back of spoon to promote better spreading of dough.)  I did use more milk so as to be able to spread it better

I did take care to bring the dumpling batter to the edge to aid in flipping the dessert over. 

Bake 400 for 25 to 30 minutes. 
Make sure apples/pears are cooked well. 

When cooked completely, invert on plate. 

Dust dessert with icing sugar.. Also did drizzle Maple Syrup when served.

Or serve with ice cream or sweet and sour sauce.  


Sweet and Sour sauce: 

• 2 large tbsp. flour 
• 2/3 c. sugar 
• large piece butter 

Mix together in a sauce pan; Add

• 2 1/2 tbsp. vinegar, 
• 2 1/2 cups hot water 
• cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Cook until thickened and serve over crow's nest.

Tomato Cheese Cake

Large pieces perfect for Brunch

This recipe is great for brunches, lunches or as an appetizer! Lovely for brunch as the slices were cut to include the whole tomatoes.  As an appetizer, using sun dried tomatoes would allow you to cut the slices thinner.  This recipe made me think of the birthday party in Paris for my brother in law, where the dishes brought by others for the party were all bought, with Quiche being the main dish. This dish would have made the cut! 

Garden Fresh Tomatoes with fresh Basil

I love the Facebook food videos that are posted, but you need to write them down or save them as you'll never find them again. 

A couple of weeks ago a neat idea was posted that used fresh mozzarella balls and fresh Cocktail Tomatoes.  Cocktail Tomatoes are about the size of ping pong balls and can be sold on a stem.  This dish looked very pretty and since I had these two ingredients from our Italian Store, I decided to make this. The recipe is a basically a quiche recipe that is baked in a loaf pan.

Fresh Bocconcini were added to the bottom

I did make a pastry shell for the loaf pan but you can skip this step as Quiche does not need a shell. 

I added the fresh Mozzarella balls to the shell before pouring in the Quiche mixture. 

I used 4 eggs, but could have used 2 more as although these eggs are labelled large they really are medium size.  The whole carton of half and half milk about 1 cup was used as I hate having left over cream.  I also grated some okra cheese into the mixture and added grated pepper and fresh grated nutmeg. 

A string of cocktail tomatoes were added before baking. 

From my herb garden, I added basil leaves to the top before baking. 

The loaf did take over 60 minutes to cook at a 350 degree oven.  The house smelled divine with the fresh nutmeg baking in the cheese. 

Summer Brunch Eats 

 I think the quiche was even tastier the next day, heated for Sunday Brunch

Cowboy Skillet Breakfast

One of the dishes that I made and froze ahead for the Christmas Holiday was this breakfast complete meal. I made two casserole of this, one with pork and the other without meat.  This recipe is like a Spanish omelette or Tortilla which folds ingredients into the egg batter. In this case the ingredients are layer and then the egg batter poured over it. 

I had made this for house guests in the summer before leaving for our trip to Europe. I had frozen the casserole before baking it.  My grandkids loved that it was a "Cowboy Breakfast".  

At that time, I had used hash browns which I found tasteless and have since used potatoes for the base. Slice the potatoes, tossed them in bit of Olive Oil and baked them in the oven spread out on a cookie sheet at a high temperature until crisp and brown. 

This is the first layer in a cast iron pan or if freezing the casserole use a prepared casserole dish. 

The second layer is the fried ground pork or sausage meat.  I use regular ground pork and flavor it with sausage seasoning like Italian seasoning, caraway seeds, salt and pepper. 

Caramelize the onions for extra flavor. 

The next layer is one's favorite veggies, like spinach, mixed colored peppers, zucchini, mushrooms. 

Grated cheese can be used, but not necessary.   I like to use cottage cheese and mix it into the egg mixture. 

Depending on the size of the dish used, the number of eggs varies. For a 12 inch skillet, use 6 to 8 eggs.

Beat eggs and add 1/2 c milk. To make it richer add half and half or cream.  

Pour over the casserole

Dust with paprika.

Bake at 350 until eggs set. About 10 to 15 minutes. 

Serve hot or also delicious cold.

Frittata, Baked Omelette, crustless Quiche.

Sometimes recipes just evolve and lack a name, as this dish does.  This is a baked omelette or crustless quiche which is a great brunch or supper dish.  Basically an egg and milk based dish with a variety of ingredients added to it.  I like spinach added to dish and find the puck of frozen spinach perfect to add to this dish when thawed out.  I also like to add cottage cheese if I have this, or a handful of shredded cheese.  I find the amount of cheese added to recipes nowadays is over the top. Cheese was not a staple in my Mom's kitchen although Cottage cheese was used in some of her dishes, like Nalysnyski, baked bun with fresh dill and cottage cheese fillings, pyrohy.  I remember her being very disappointed with the taste of her Pyrohy the first time she used store bought cottage cheese instead of her homemade farm cottage cheese. 

To this 8inch Quiche dish, I have added 4 well beaten eggs, 1 cup of liquid, which can be cream or milk.

I like covering the egg mixture with thin slices of potatoes that have been tossed in Olive oil.  when the potatoes are arranged, dust with paprika.  This potato covering works so well with pot pies.  

Bake at 375 to 400 for 30 minutes until potatoes cooked.  

Everything tastes better with sun kissed tomatoes which are locally grown!

Maine Pancakes, Pennsylvanian Dutch Pancake

In trying to organize my Christmas recipe, I came across a recipe that I know as a Pennsylvanian Dutch Pancake but this was referred to as a Maine Pancake.  I am not sure why!

It suggests making this batter a day ahead and chilling it overnight.  Never am I that organized! 

The first time I made a Pennsylvanian Dutch Pancake in my Cast Iron, it certainly rose more than this recipe, but with two teenage boys, I couldn't make it fast enough. I didn't make it again as needed more than one cast iron pan to feed a family of five.

Armed with this information, I cut up three apples, handful of raisins and sautéed them in a tablespoon of butter.  I also chopped up two cooked sausages. 

 Whisk 2 lightly beaten large eggs, 1/2 c flour, 1/2 cup milk, pinch of salt, vanilla together, Batter can be a bit lumpy.  

Heat Oven to 425 degrees.

If you wanted to do just the puffy pancake, melt some butter in a cast iron pan.
Pour batter into the heated cast iron pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Serve right away as the pancake will be puffy like a soufflé and most dramatic!

Dust with Icing sugar or serve with maple syrup. 

Since I have two pieces left over, I will serve it with ice cream for supper. 

Mexican brunch,

Brunch in a Mexican restaurant

For an appetizer, Baked Tortilla chips with Salsa, pico de gallo and guacamole

 Pico De Gallo - A traditional fresh Mexican salsa made with tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapenos , made fresh daily!

The heat of this sauce varies greatly as to the heat of the Jalapeños.  

My recipe for Pico De Gallo is;

Chop one tomato, 1/2 onion, handful of cilantro, lime juice and chopped jalapeño
Mix together and season with salt and pepper.

We all ordered a different dish, my husband loves the Chicken Chimichanga, I had the Mexican platter and ended up taking the Chicken Enchilada and the beef Burritos home. 

Chimichanga - A deep fried flour tortilla filled with pico de gallo and cheese, with your choice of chicken or beef, topped with our homemade chipotle sauce and pepper
Mexican platter, that had one Enchiladas with chicken, Mexi Burritos - Flour tortilla filled with Spanish rice, refried beans, pico de gallo  with beef and hard taco with chicken. 

My son had the Enchiladas - Three handmade enchiladas served with Spanish rice and refried beans with Chicken.  Beef or vegetable were the other choices. 

Dutch Waffle - Loaded with their very own saskatoon topping and whipped cream.

Salenjaci, Croissants, Bread rolls

For years, I have wanted to do croissants, but after looking at the recipes with all their steps in rolling out the dough with the butter, I read half way through the recipe and then say forget it! 

Until I saw Salenjaci in Cooking with Zoki's blog, I decided to try out the recipe.

I have been following different European blogs which has opened up for me at times ways to prepare products in a different spin.  I particularly like the creative ways bread is shaped and presented!


Most blogs do translate into English, but sometimes do not translate well! 

Usually I can find the specific recipe using google that has been written in English, but this time I could not find Salenjaci, so I followed Zoki's recipe.  The recipe translated well but the number of cups for 1.2 kg of flour varied in different sites so I added flour until I had the right consistency based on the amount of liquid.

Here is my modified version of the recipe

Ingredients

• 6 1/2 cups flour
• 1 T traditional dry yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups of lukewarm milk
• 1/2 cup of butter

Soften the yeast in the water and sugar.   Let the mixture proof until there are bubbles on the surface. 
Beat the  eggs and add the lukewarm milk and salt.  Add  proofed yeast mixture to  egg and milk mixture.

Add flour cup by cup to the wet mixture and mix with spoon until you can no longer do this.
Turn dough over on to lightly floured surface and knead, adding flour as you go along until the mixture is combined and soft but not sticky. 

Place into a greased bowl and give it a spin so that the top of the dough is greased. Cover with a saran wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Next morning
Roll out the dough into a rectangle, spread butter on half of the surface, fold over and roll out again. Repeat this 2 more times.

Cut your vertical strips into 3 inches, then horizontal strips of about 6 inches

Cut each block diagonally 

Wrap each piece starting from the widest part and curve the ends to get the croissant look if you wish.

I let the rolls sit until double the size, then brushed them with water and egg wash before baking. 

Bake at a preheated oven of 400 degrees F for 18 minutes. I did turn the oven down after 15 minutes of baking as the rolls were browning too quickly.

Things I have learned from this recipe

The results were lovely, but I would either roll out the dough thicker or make the strips larger to have a bigger roll.

I used very little butter and the results were flaky, more butter would increase the amount of flakiness. 

Since I only baked a quarter of the dough,I am experimenting with keeping the other quarter of the made up rolls in the refrigerator for breakfast tomorrow.  The other half is frozen to make cinnamon rolls or more Salenjaci.