Apple Bars with Spice Glaze

This is a fallish dessert, but I don't think it would be good with the frosting recipe I just posted, especially since this one has its own glaze. I made this on Sunday to send with Steve to a birthday party, since I had to work (of course). I told him to make sure he ate one and take careful notes, for my reading public. He ended up bringing home a couple of them, so I did get to eat one to try it. Pretty good, I think. From the Betty Crocker cookbook I'm going through.

Apple Bars
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups flour (white or whole-wheat...I used white, since it was for other people. Next time I may use half of each)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 1/2 cups chopped peeled cooking apples (2 small)
1 cup chopped walnuts (I left these out)
Spice Glaze (below)

Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of 13x9 pan. Mix brown sugar, oil, milk, and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda, and spices. Stir in apples and nuts (this got very thick and Steve actually had to do this part). Spread in pan. Bake about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes back clean. Cool 30 minutes in pan on wire rack. Drizzle with Spice Glaze. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

Spice Glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 to 2 tbsp apple juice or milk (I used cider)

Mix all ingredients until smooth and spreadable. (start with 1 tbsp...I did two at once and ended up needing like twice the amount of powdered sugar to make it the right consistency)

So these were so easy to make, and they smelled great too. Definitely keeping these. I told Nathan they were apple brownies. I don't know if the kids liked them or not but Steve said people were eating them so I guess that's a good sign. Anyone who was there, your feedback would be nice! Just leave a comment.

Maple Frosting

So last week I made "Applesauce Cake" from the Betty Crocker cookbook I'm going through. The cake came out dense and not very tasty. But we did like the frosting, so that's the only part I'll post. We actually ended up throwing the cake away, because I know Steve would eat it, but I told him "if we're going to get fat, it's going to be on yummy stuff, not on stuff we don't even like." I think that's a good philosophy, in general. The frosting was quite good, though, such that he wanted to scrape it off the cake. I didn't let him.

Maple (Nut) Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup stick margarine or butter, softened
1/2 cup maple-flavored syrup
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts (optional, I left them out)

Mix powdered sugar and butter in medium sized bowl. Stir in maple syrup. Beat until smooth and spreadable. Stir in nuts, if using. Frosts one 13x9 inch cake or fills and frosts on 8 or 9 inch 2 layer cake.

So this would be good on fallish desserts. I have another recipe for Johnny Appleseed Cake that is my mom's recipe, which I might try this frosting on again.

New England Pork and Beans

This is the 3rd and final recipe using the Master Recipe. Another great one. This one is a bit time consuming but well worth it.

New England Pork and Beans
1 lb dried baby lima beans or navy beans (I used navy beans...I couldn't bring myself to buy lima beans because I hated them as a child and why turn back on that feeling which has never failed me?)
4 strips bacon, thinly sliced crosswise
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup molasses
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 ts ground cloves
3/4 lb cider braised pork loin (see master recipe), cut into thin strips
1 1/2 tsp salt

Rinse and pick over beans. Cover with cold water; soak overnight. (There is a rapid-soak method which I used: Rinse and pick over beans. Cover with 6-8 cups hot water, bring to a rapid boil, boil for 2 minutes. Cover and remove from heat. Let sit one hour. Drain and rinse and proceed as directed.)

Preheat oven to 300. In 8-qt Dutch oven, saute bacon slices until crisp. Add onion, cook 3 minutes, stirring. Add beans, cider, molasses, bay leaves, thyme, cloves, and 2 cups water. Place in oven. Cook 3 1/2 hours, covered. Do not stir.

Add pork strips, salt, and additional 1 cup of water if needed for desired consistency (I added about 1/2 cup but I didn't need to, I had a ton of bean juice left over). Return to oven; bake 30 minutes, uncovered.

I have had many baked beans in my day. It is a dish I am very fond of. These were the best beans I have EVER had. I am not kidding or exaggerating. This recipe you could do without doing the master recipe first, because you don't definitely need the pork, it just adds to it. If you like beans at all you should definitely try this recipe. All the kids liked the "brown beans" as Steve has taken to calling them in the past. All in all I think the master recipe thing was a good move. Next month I'm trying chicken. Stay tuned =0)

Spicy Chorizo Chili

This wasn't really spicy. And I don't know what Chorizo is. I know they don't have it at Wal-Mart though. I just left it out and it was still great.

Spicy Chorizo Chili
2 small links chorizo, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green or red pepper, diced
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (optional, and I left it out)
1 1/4 cups reserved pork roasting juices
1 can beef broth
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
3 cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 1b cider braised pork loin, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (see Master Recipe)

Warm 1 tbsp oil in 8-qt Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook chorizo (if you found it), onion, bell, and jalapeno peppers about 5 minutes, until vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally. Add roasting juices, broth, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Bring to boil over high heat, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add beans and diced pork; simmer 15 minutes longer. Serve over rice if desired. This helpfully suggests that you can serve it with a "dollop" of sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro as well.

Steve's only complaint about this chili was that it was too "beany." It did have a high bean ratio, I'll give him that. But the flavor of this chili was amazing. It was so good. Much better than just hamburger, chili powder, tomato sauce, and whatever else I was putting in other recipes in the past. I have made chili before but this was way better. I think when I make it again I may put at least a couple different kinds of beans in, so it won't be so much of the same kind. But we will definitely make it again. This would be hard to make without using the "master recipe" because of the roasting juices you have to put in. So so good.

North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches

So this is the first recipe made from the master recipe listed just previously. Not sure what's so "North Carolina" about them, and the recipe does not elaborate...

North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tsp ginger
pinch red-pepper flakes (optional, but I added them...ooh living on the edge)
1 1/4 lb cider-braised pork loin (see Master Recipe)
4 to 6 hamburger buns or hard rolls

In medium sauce pan over high heat, combine first 8 ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes until thick and slightly darkened. Stir in shredded pork. Split rolls. Warm or toast in oven. Put a generous portion of pork between the buns and serve.

So these were pretty good. I had too much sauce, maybe I didn't let it thicken enough. If it had been only for the sake of this recipe, then I probably wouldn't have kept with it. But the other two are so fabulous that this one gets in on their coattails. Of course my two younger ones were less than impressed, actually they didn't like any of these recipes, but they were still made to eat them ha ha. And they were so good that I don't really mind if they didn't like them. Maybe in a year when I make them all again their tastes will have progressed.

Cider-Braised Pork Loin

So this week I tried something a bit different. This Working Mother Cookbook that I'm going through has these things called "master recipes" wherein you make a bunch of one thing, usually a meat, and then make a few recipes with that meat for the rest of the week. This one was a bit more complicated that my usual fare, and required more meal planning than I usually do, but I was pleased with the results. One thing I will say is that I bought a cheaper cut of meat than what the recipe called for, and wish I hadn't, because it was quite fatty. These recipes were all good for this time of year--kinda fallish--since it uses cider. Okay so I will post the master recipe first, then the 3 recipes that branch off of it.

Master Recipe: Cider-Braised Pork Loin
8 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp dijon mustard
4 lb boneless pork loin
2 cups apple cider

In a small bowl combine garlic, salt, and mustard; mash with a fork into a paste (this is easy if you have a Pampered Chef garlic press). With your hands, spread all over the pork (I admit that I used a tool, not my bare hands. Nothing bad happened). Cover with plastic; refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 400. In lg roasting pan, roast pork, fat side up, 40 minutes. Reduce heat to 350. Pour cider over pork; cook 35 minutes, until internal temperature is 155, basting occasionally. Remove from oven; let stand 15 minutes. Strain roasting pan juices into small plastic container (you should have about 1 1/4 cups). Add to container juices that accumulate as pork rests. Wrap roast in foil; refrigerate overnight. Cover and refrigerate roasting liquid.

The next day, slice off 1/2 of the roast and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Reserve for Spicy Chorizo Chili. Cut off just over half of remaining piece and finely shred; reserve for North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Slice remaining pork into thin strips; reserve for Pork and Beans.

So just doing this step took 2-3 days. That seemed weird, like I'm investing all this time and still have to make supper that night. But by the time I made the recipes, they were really good. So like I said, get the actual pork loin. It's a difference of probably $5 so it might cost you $13-$15 or so, but you are getting 3 meals out of it so I think it's worth it. I'll write what I think of each individual recipe, but I will say that I think I will do this again, probably not until next fall, and I will get the pork loin cut.

Apple-Berry Crumb Pie

This is the last recipe I had marked to try from the Nov/Dec 2009 Simple & Delicious. If your favorite part of apple crisp is the "crisp," then you will like this recipe, because the crust is made out of the same stuff the crisp is made of. It was a yummy fall dessert.

Apple-Berry Crumb Pie
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup flour (I used 2/3 cup white and 1/3 cup wheat. It probably doesn't make that big of a difference but I wanted to make it a teensy bit healthier. Probably it didn't. That's okay)
1/2 cup brown sugar
10 tbsp butter, melted
1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Vanilla ice cream, optional (not at our house. It's mandatory)

In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, and butter; set aside 3/4 cup for topping. Press remaining mixture onto bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake @ 375 for 13-17 minutes or until lightly browned. In another bowl, combine the pie filling, cranberries, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Spoon into crust. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until topping is lightly browned (I only did 20 and it was definitely done). Cool on wire rack. Serve with ice cream if desired.

Steve wanted whipped cream on his. He wanted it so bad he decided to whip it himself with our sweet Kitchen Aid mixer. Then he cut the pie and served it. Let me tell you that there was so much whipped cream on mine (he said he gave himself a big serving and thought I would be jealous so he gave me a bunch too) anyway the first few bites I couldn't even tell how the pie tasted due to the quantity of whipped cream. So I scraped a bunch off to the side, then ate some more. Just as I suspected, it was tasty. If you wanted to be healthier and not use canned pie filling, I'm sure you could make it just like when you are making a regular apple pie, this was just easier. Because the name of the magazine is Simple & Delicious, not Complicated & Delicious.