Fall, Apples, and "Cooking with Naran"
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Since it's been a while between cooking and food recipes here on AMG, thought I'd share an apple recipe I came up with. As we all know, the fall apple harvest is everywhere, and this is a great way to use some for dessert.
~ Almost-Apple-Pie ~
You will need:
One baked apple recipe.
One box of Nilla Wafers (or similar).
Use your favorite baked apple recipe, and bake them until almost done. Take the dish out of the oven, and put lots of Nilla wafers into the yummy cinnamon liquid surrounding them, and put at least one wafer into each apple.
Put the dish back into the oven for the last ten minutes of baking time. Let cool a little, and dig in! The Nilla wafers are almost like pie crust, and the sweet vanilla flavor is wonderful with the cinnamon and apples.
Also a lot easier and quicker than baking a real apple pie. This one was a winner in our household!
8)
Nor Jell-O, I noticed.
YUM!!!!!!
That sounds goooooood!
It is - I have to admit it!
Bob - Jello is something I confess to being enamored of this past summer, and I had a lot of fun experimenting. Peach Jello made with orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream and mini-marshmallows was particularly delectable. Kinda like a Creamsicle. Also popular around here was pineapple Jello with coconut and vanilla ice cream mixed in.
But alas, the hot weather is behind us, and Jello will once again be relegated to a spot further back on the pantry shelf. More sturdy fare is beckoning, along with the cooler weathah.
Remember "Mock Apple Pie"?
I do. I could never get Mom to make it, though.
Indeed - every pantry had a box of Ritz Crackers on the shelf way back when, and the weird thing is, I remember my mother making one of those mock pies when I was kid, and you know what? It really DID taste like an apple pie! Not an apple in sight, though. I guess this proves if you throw enough sugar and cinnamon at anything, it qualifies as edible.
:lol:
It really DID taste like an apple pie!
It did, it was amazing.
Sorry your mom wouldn't make one for you, Bob. I hope you have found it in your heart to forgive her.
Now, though, being a grown-up - you can make that - or anything - yourself now! I LOVE being a grown-up. I can have my dessert before dinner if I want. I can fill my shopping cart full of pop tarts and Doretos if I am inclined. I can make broiled scallops for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I feel like it.
Being an adult is AWESOME!
You're funny. Yes, it is. :lol:
BTW - vanilla ice cream was most delectable on top of Almost-Apple-Pie. I had some for breakfast.
My mom used to make it (mock apple pie) with zucchini and I dare say it was REALLY REALLY GOOD!!!!!!!
Mom, if you read this, you should post the recipe!
Hi, Catherine's Mom, if you're reading - I bet that was the only way to get Catherine to eat her zucchini, yes? :lol:
Oh gosh, I was easy, Naran. I would eat almost anything. :D
Might I add, it was made with WAY TOO BIG zucchini. It was about all you could do with them.
Besides leaving them on other peoples' porches, and running like hell. Or, on their car seats if they were silly enough to leave their windows down during zucchini season.
:P
The 2008 Summer Cooking With Naran Update -
First, I came home from the WK Family Fun Day with the LARGEST zucchini I've ever seen, courtesy of Carol Whitten, who grew it. It's large enough to make a mock-apple pie, and zucchini bread, AND a generous portion stuffed with browned, ground meat&onions/garlic/rice/tomato sauce/cheese and baked. This thing looks more like a Zeppelin than a vegetable! :D
As for JELLO, this summer's fave so far is lime flavor, mixed with 1/3 block of softened cream cheese, some mini-marshmallows (they rise to the top, very pretty), and sliced green seedless grapes. Cool, refreshing, and a nice side dish for barbecue and grilled veggies.
Peach flavor is a close second, with whipped cream mixed in to make two layers (one clear, one foamy), and sliced, diced peaches in the middle.
Easy! Fun! Delicious!
Betsy and Auntie Mabel also just finished a batch of banana/papaya chutney for the jam and pickle cupboard, which turned out swell.
Somehow the thought of lime jello, zucchini and marshmallows doesn't sound that appetizing.
Silly Robert - of course I meant marshmallows, lime jello, and summer squash.
:D
Didn't someone start a photo reportage of the culinary feats accomplished? I think you should do that too Naran. I'm curious to see what cream cheese, green jello, and green grapes looks like. Sounds good. I also like the Almost Apple Pie. I think even I could handle that one.
I know Punk Freud was doing a thread with pix of his mouth-watering grill creations, Listen. Man O Man, it's pretty tasty stuff, from the looks of it, too!
Sometime I will try to get a few pix of my own stuff on here... it should last that long, is the problem!
:D
I know that everyone out there with a sweet tooth will just hate this stuff. Oh, yeah. Simply hate and detest.
:D
Heavenly Caramel Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees; grease one 8" or 9" baking pan.
Sift into large bowl - 1&3/4 c. cake flour and 1 c. brown sugar
Add:
1/2 c. soft butter
2 large eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1&3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat diligently for three minutes. Bake in prepared pan for 30 minutes, or until done. Cool on rack 5 minutes; turn out onto rack and let cool completely.
Caramel Frosting:
Blend 2 Tbl. flour and 1/2 c. milk in small saucepan; cook uncovered over low heat until very thick, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool.
Cream together in bowl:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. softened butter
1/4 c. shortening
1/4 tsp. salt
Beat until light and fluffy; then beat in the cooled milk/flour paste. The texture should resemble whipped cream. Refrigerate the frosting until the cake is cool enough to frost.
IF you can wait that long!
8)
You can also sprinkle the frosted cake with crushed nuts of your choice, and/or coconut. Yummy!
Recipe from a book by Fannie Flagg - "Can't Wait to Get to Heaven."
I guess it'll have to be mock apple pie this year.... the apple crop is really bad. All my apples are very small, and none of the trees had a big crop. Apples like water, but they also need sun.
Silly Naran, Jello shots are good all year long :)
Joe - how silly of me, indeed! The only question, is do the marshmallows get stuck going down?
:wink:
*... ponders what Allens' flavored Jello would taste like... *
ewwwwwww. Where's the "barf" icon?
Sorry, Bob. Just have a piece of Caramel Cake, and the feeling will go away; I promise.
:)
I almost forgot about this cooking thread... so, here's a bump.
Bread and Butter Refrigerator Pickles
2 c. each, or what have you - cucumbers, peeled onions, peeled carrots, peppers, cauliflower - washed, trimmed, and cut in smallish chunks. Sprinkle with 2 T. salt in a large glass or pottery bowl, stir, and leave covered at room temperature for several hours. Drain off all liquid, but DO NOT RINSE. Place vegetables back into the glass bowl.
Mix in a saucepan:
3 c. cider vinegar
2 c. white sugar
2 T. mixed pickling spices
OR
2 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. whole peppercorns
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1/2 tsp. dried dill
Bring to a gentle boil, and let simmer for 10 minutes, until the sugar is well dissolved. Pour over the drained vegetables in the glass bowl, gently stir to blend.
Place the hot pickles and the brine in clean glass jars, seal tightly with vinegar-proof lids (old pickle or jam jars are great for this use). Wipe jars clean, let cool to room temperature. Store in the fridge for several days before trying them. These will keep for months in a cold refrigerator.
The salting keeps the veggies crisp, and the process is much simpler than regular canning. Very good for a quick, homemade pickle.
* the reason one doesn't rinse the salted vegetables is *science* - they would draw in the water, instead of the hot brine. If you do rinse them, they won't be as crisp, and they won't taste nearly as good. There isn't any salt in the sugar/vinegar mix, so it all evens out on the taste score.
A bump for the pickle recipe, via PM.
I can almost taste them now...thanks
You're very welcome! They just get better with time, if they last that long. When the pickles are gone, you can reboil the brine and use it again, augmenting with more sugar/vinegar/spices as needed.
" . . . who would want to eat catfish any way BUT fried?"
I'm so disappointed. ;8^)
Fried is always good, but the noble, estimable and versatile catfish poaches very nicely, thank you, which opens up endless possibilities for lightly spiced and seasoned sauces and glazes. Poaching over a bed of dill, then brushed with lime juice and topped with a simple white sauce with a measure of freshly ground coarse pepper (using the gaily-colored peppercorns adds a festive touch to the presentation) is quick and easy.
Even easier is to poach and baste with some of Maine's own World Harbors' lemon, pepper and garlic sauce/marinade. Using a sweet sauce like that, it's sometimes nice to just pop the freshly poached and basted fish under the broiler just long enough to stiffen it up to a glaze without browning it.
No time to get into it just now, but if ya can use one of my reccipes for raccoon or groundhog, lemme know. I can help with that, too.
Sounds good!!
...mmmmm.... basted & glazed yardpig....
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Note to Bob MacGregor -
There are no nutz in this recipe.