Adventures in Thyme

Our adventures in food

Apple Chicken Tagine

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Apple Chicken Tagine by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Apple Chicken Tagine

 

An old proverb suggests that a man’s affection is most quickly gained thru food, undoubtedly good food being the key.  I would add the caveat that creating good food is easily attained by using a tagine!  You might remember a few recipes back that we got one – and love it!  (If you do not yet own one, you can still create the yumminess with a large skillet and well fitting cover.)

This delicious recipe uses apples, so bountiful right now, and chicken thighs making it a low cost meal with big flavor – enjoy!

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
8 Chicken Thighs, boneless
4 large tart Apples (6 to 8 small)
2 cups Chicken Stock
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped Dates
2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground Allspice
1 teaspoon chopped, fresh Mint
Slivered Almonds
Sprigs of Mint

Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in your tagine and heat over medium heat.

While the oil is heating, cut your chicken thighs into bite sized pieces. (You could substitute lamb if you prefer.) When the oil is hot, place the chicken into the tagine and lightly brown, cooking off most of the extra liquid from the chicken.

While the chicken is cooking, peel and core your apples. Cut them into bite sized pieces. Once the chicken is browned, add the apple to the chicken, then add the chopped dates. Stir. Now add 2 cups of chicken broth, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint and a half teaspoon each of allspice and nutmeg. Stir. Bring to a simmer and then turn down to low to medium low and let simmer for an hour.

Serve over rice and garnish with sliced almonds and mint sprigs.

Apple Custard Pie

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Apple Custard Pie by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Apple Custard Pie

Can there be too many apple pie variations?  We think not, so here’s another spin on this all American dish. This time we use  almond milk custard and tart Granny Smith apples to make an apple custard pie.

4 to 5 cups sliced green, tart Apples (Granny Smith work well)
2 cups plain, unsweetened Almond Milk
4 eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 table spoons Corn Starch
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
9 inch Pie Shell

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place your pie dough into a 9 inch pie pan, line with parchment and something to weigh it all down as it bakes. We used a bags worth of kidney beans that we had in the cupboard. Bake the pie shell for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Remove from the oven and let cool (and throw out the beans if you use some too – although edible, they’ve lost their yummy factor in the baking process).

Peel, core and slice your apples.

Combine all of the dry ingredients, mixing completely.

Put the almond milk in a 6 to 8 quart pan. Beat your eggs and add them to the almond milk. Add your dry ingredients and mix until combined and the sugar is dissolved. Add your apples. Cook over medium heat until it just begins to bubble. Turn down to low and cook, stirring frequently until well thickened and the apple slices are soft (about 20 minutes or so).

Pour the apple custard mixture into your pie shell and refrigerate until cool. Serve with whipped topping and a dusting of cinnamon.

Enjoy!

Peeres in Confyt

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Pear in Wine Sauce by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Pear in Wine Sauce

This week it’s another trip through time. Dan was asked to shoot a cover for the Society for Creative Anachronism’s quarterly magazine, Tournaments Illuminated. The nice people at Medieval Cookery very kindly allowed us to use the Peeres in Confyt recipe for the cover photo and have given us permission to post it here. You can find this and many other fun historical recipes on their web site at medievalcookery.com

The original recipe is from Forme of Cury, S. Pegge (ed.):

PEERES IN CONFYT. XX.VI. XII. Take peeres and pare hem clene. take gode rede wyne & mulberes oþer saundres and seeþ þe peeres þerin & whan þei buth ysode, take hem up, make a syryp of wyne greke. oþer vernage with blaunche powdour oþer white sugur and powdour gyngur & do the peres þerin. seeþ it a lytel & messe it forth.

The redaction we used is:

4 pears
3 cups red wine
water (for poaching)
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. ginger

Peel pears, leaving the stems on, and cut a small amount off the bottoms so they will stand upright. Poach in water flavored with one cup of wine. Remove pears from water when they are just tender and place upright in a serving bowl. If desired, slice each pear in halves or quarters leaving about a half inch from the top uncut so the parts will remain attached. Make a syrup of remaining wine, sugar, and ginger. Bring syrup to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer. Pour syrup over pears and serve hot.

This is really a very easy recipe and is quite good. It would be perfectly at home on the table for your holiday parties, Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

Explore history through food and have a little adventure in time!

Date Bars

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Date Bars by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Date bars

 

If you ever crave a crumbly and gooey dessert, this Date Bar recipe is for you.  It would be excellent paired with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream,  and since the glaze can do double duty on the ice cream too – it’s a win win!  Let’s get cooking…

Filling

3 cups chopped dates (you can find these prepackaged in the baking aisle)
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup water

Combine the dates, sugar and water in a small sauce pan. Cook over low to medium low heat, stirring frequently, until it starts to thicken and is bubbly (20-25 minutes).  Remove from heat and let cool.

Dough/Crumbly bits

2 cups flour
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup vegetable oil

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Grease one 9×13 or two 9×9 baking pans. (The 9×13 makes thicker bars.)

Combine the dry ingredients, mix well. Add the oil and stir to combine. This will make a very crumbly dough.

Press 2/3 of the dough into the baking pan(s). Spread the cooled filling evenly over the top. Place the remaining dough on top of the filling and pat it down evenly.

Place on the middle rack in the oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes (25-30 for 9×9).

Remove from oven and let cool. Cut unto 2 x 2 inch bars.

Glaze

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring periodically. (Don’t let it stick to the bottom or burn.) Bring to a boil and boil, whisking constantly, for 3 or 4 minutes. It will thicken a bit. Let cool to warm and drizzle over the top of your date bars. Serve yourself a delectable sized portion and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Tartys In Applis

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Tartys In Applis

Tartys In Applis

This week we’re going to tiptoe through time to days of yore for a yummy “Tartys In Applis”.

For To Make Tartys In Applis. Tak gode Applys and gode Spycis and Figys and reysons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed colourd wyth Safroun wel and do yt in a cofyn and do yt forth to bake wel. Source – Form od Cury, English 14th century.  (Try http://medieval cookery.com or google search for sites with assorted redactions.  This is a modification of the one on Medieval Cookery)

 How’d you do?  Get it?  No worries, back to the future we go…

5 cups chopped apples
1 cup chopped figs
½ cup raisins
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
2 crusts for a 9 inch pie
1 beaten egg (to brush crust)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Peel, core and dice the apples. I used a mix of sweet and tart apples.  Chop figs too.  Combine the apples, figs and raisins.  Add the sugar and spices mixing well.

Lay out your pie crusts on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Put half the mixture on each pie crust, leaving an inch to an inch and a half clear around the circumference.  Spread the filling so it is level.  Fold the edges of the crust up and over the edge of the filling.  Add apple slices to make a decorative pattern if you wish.

Brush the crust with beaten egg. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm or cold.

Changes from the original; I left out the pears, as I have lots of apples on my tree. I also left out the saffron as it isn’t going to do much to color this without more liquid.