apple | Adventures in Thyme

Apple Tart with Goat Cheese and Honey

October 9, 2015 by Dan Leave a Comment

Apple tart by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Apple tart with goat cheese and honey

Here in the U.S., Kurt Sutter’s The Bastard Executioner, a period drama on FX, is a few episodes into it’s 14th century epic. An apple tart, so simple to create, and with connections to medieval cookery seemed apropos.

Enjoy!

Pie Crust for 9 inch pie
3 large tart cooking Apples (I used Granny Smiths)
8 oz soft white Goat Cheese
4 tablespoons Honey
Cinnamon
1 Egg

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Lay out two pie crusts. Spread half of the goat cheese on each piece of pie dough, leaving a couple of inches at the edge uncovered. Peel, core and slice your apples. Lay the apple slices in a decorative pattern on top of the goat cheese, half on each tart. Drizzle 2 table spoons of honey on each tart. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Now, fold the uncovered edge up and over the tart, as pictured above. Beat your egg and brush over the piece dough.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Serve warm or cold.

Apple Chicken Tagine

November 12, 2014 by Dan Leave a Comment

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

November 5, 2014 by Dan 1 Comment

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!

Tartys In Applis

October 1, 2014 by Dan Leave a Comment

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 14^th 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.

Fried-Apple Pie

September 17, 2014 by Dan 1 Comment

Fried-Apple Pie

Fall is in the air and apples are proving gravity does exist and falling in great abundance so catch a few and make a delicious apple pie!

Ingredients:

6 medium to large, tart baking Apples
Butter
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Molasses
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
handful Raisins
1 to 2 tablespoons Raw Sugar
Pie crusts for a 9 inch pie

Instructions:

Peel and slice the apples. Fry the apple slices in a skillet with a pat or two of butter. I fried them about 2 apples worth at a time. You will need 4 cups of fried apples per pie. When done, set aside and let the apples cool until they are warm, not hot.

While the apples cool, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and begin to assemble the rest of the filling.

Beat two eggs. Add the sugar and molasses and stir until well combined. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg stirring to incorporate. Now add the raisins and stir. Add the fried apples. Toss to coat with the egg and sugar mixture.

Using a 9 inch pie pan place one pie crust in the bottom of the pan. Add your apple mixture. Add a top crust (if solid, slit to allow steam to escape.) Beat your remaining egg and brush the crust with the egg. Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Place the pie on the middle rack in the oven and bake 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Now you can say you DO follow your Mom’s advice and eat an apple a day, okay there’s some sugar involved, and a wee bit of spice, but still – it’s fruit!