Fried Apples with Pecans

(Part of a weekly series by a group of bloggers, featuring Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game Changers in Food - see end of post for list of bloggers participating & their blogs)

Out of the 50 Women Game Changers in Food that we're learning more about, I'm thrilled to see someone as young as Severene von Tscharner Fleming make it to the list. At age 30, she's an accomplished young farmer, film-maker and activist with an impressive list of achievements - she's helmed a documentary on agricultural farmers, founded an organization - The Greenhorns, co-founded the National Young Farmers' Coalition and kick-started a whole movement for young farmers across North America. Phew, I feel like I've done a lot just by reading her story and the passion with which she continues to do wonders to help the nation's farming infrastructure.

Severine hails from a family where her maternal side inherited a farm for six generations. She grew up on the farm and that foundation eventually had an impact on the path she chose to persevere in life. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Severine played an active role in college activities as well, and that's where the idea for her documentary was born. While organizing a film festival at college, she noticed that all films that looked into the prospects of farming and agriculture portrayed very grim scenarios. But, as part of a young farming community, she knew very well that was not the whole truth and there needed to be awareness of the great possibilities and opportunities for young farmers. She decided to document her journey in building a network of young farmers who shared the same vision and to use the documentary to reach out to others across the nation, to inspire, help, support and offer guidance. Greenhorns, the organization, is a non-profit that promotes, supports and recruits young farmers in the US. They produce content and communications for young farmers — including film, radio, a blog, wiki, a guidebook, press, workshops, conferences, a coalition, mixers, GIS mapping and more.

Since Severine is more of an activist and farmer, there aren't any recipes of hers online that we could use to highlight her work this week. But, their website has a link to blogs of others in their farming community. So, I picked one of them and found this extremely simple recipe for fried apples and pecans.

Don't be fooled by how simple the dish looks and how easy it is to make. The aroma that fills your house when your sauteing the apples in butter and cinnamon is like heaven in a pan. It is even more yummy than the smell of baking cakes. Oh. Nothing compares to it. This doesn't even need any sugar or accompaniments. The girl who'd made it recommended serving it with fresh whipped cream. But, I preferred it without anything because the apples had such a delightful flavor on their own. Just make sure you use juicy apples. 

Fried Apples with Pecans (adapted from the blog, Make Wine & Cheese With Me)

Ingredients and instructions

• 2 crisp, tart and sweet apples, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
• 1/4 teaspoon or less of cinnamon powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter (I love salted butter)
• 1 lemon, halved
• 2 teaspoons pecans, quartered or halved

In a saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat. Once it is melted, add the apple slices and stir till all the slices are coated with butter. Add the cinnamon powder and the lemons and mix well. Saute on medium low till the apples get tender and soft. 

Remove the lemons and serve.

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Here's a list of the other bloggers participating in this series. Do go over to their blogs to see what yummy dishes they've whipped up. If you'd like to join the group, please get in touch with Mary of One Perfect Bite.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast [] Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed [] Susan - The Spice Garden [] Heather - girlichef [] Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney [] Jeanette - Healthy Living [] Mary - One Perfect Bite [] Kathleen - Bake Away with Me [] Sue - The View from Great Island [] Barbara - Movable Feasts [] Linda A - There and Back Again [] Nancy - Picadillo [] Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits [] Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen [] Annie - Most Lovely Things [] Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook [] Alyce - More Time at the Table [] Amrita -Beetles Kitchen Escapades

Pumpkin souffle bake

(Archived from Nuts & Sprinkles)

The season of fall is beautiful here. The pretty image of different shades of red, orange and brown leaves on trees and roads makes you ALMOST forget the chill in the air. Yes, winter is almost here and my bones are already creaking!

The time is perfect to try some pumpkin recipes. Great timing also with Halloween that just went by. This is a recipe I saw on a Paula Deen show on Food Network. I read a comment about her somewhere - it said that Paula can never cook a dish without a couple of sticks of butter. It is so true! Every dish of hers has to have either mounds or smaller dollops of butter. That's why I try to minimize the number of dishes I try from her collection. But, when I saw this dish on her show, I had to try it, come what may! So, enjoy and forget counting your calorie intake for just a day...or two *wink*. Bon Appétit!

Ingredients:

For the pie -

• ¾ cup flour 
• 3/4 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (I made my own spice mix with ground cinnamon, nutmeg and all-spice) 
• 1/3 cup sugar 
• ¼ teaspoon salt 
• 3 tablespoon Butter 
• 4 eggs, separate the yolks from the whites (add only the yolks first and beat the egg whites separately and fold in gently at the end) 
• ¾ cup buttermilk 
• 1 ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 cup pumpkin puree 

For the garnish -

• 1/2 cup pecan halves 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter 
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Start with preparing the garnish. Melt the butter on a medium flame. Add the brown sugar. When the brown sugar starts to melt, add the pecan halves and cook for 1-2 minutes. Turn off flame and set aside.

Mix the flour, pumpkin pie spice, sugar and salt in a bowl and keep aside.



In another bowl, melt the butter. Add the egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla extract and whisk till combined well. Slowly add the flour mixture. Mix in the pumpkin puree.

Beat the egg whites separately until it becomes fluffy with soft peaks and gently fold into the pumpkin batter.

Grease and flour your baking dish. Pour the mixture into the baking dish and top with the pecan garnish. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes. Let it cool for a couple of minutes before digging in.

Dust powdered sugar on top and you can also serve it with maple syrup.

Butter tarts with pecans

(Archived from Nuts & Sprinkles)


Easy-peasy recipe for yummy butter tarts I got from Joyofbaking.com. Though the pecans in the recipe are optional, I feel the real yumminess comes out because I added the pecans. It seems like they'd have been a little too plain without them.

This is another one of the desserts I made for Easter. It's the perfect tea time snack you can munch on in the evenings (or throughout the day if you're like me!).

Ingredients:(Makes 12 four-inch tarts)

Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry):

• 1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar 
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces 
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup (30 - 60 ml) ice water 

Butter Tart Filling:

• 1/3 cup (70 grams) unsalted butter, softened 
• 1 cup (215 grams) light brown sugar 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) light cream (half-and-half) (10% butterfat) 
• 1/2 cup raisins or 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts (toasted and chopped) (optional) 

Pate Brisee: In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/8 cup (30 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour.

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, place on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and cut into 12 - 4 inch (10 cm) rounds. (To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards).) Gently place the rounds into a 12-cup muffin tin. Cover and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up the dough. Next, make the filling.

Butter Tart Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla extract. Stir in the cream. If using nuts and/or raisins, place a spoonful in the bottom of each tart shell and then fill the unbaked tart shells with the filling. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the pastry has nicely browned and the filling is set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature or chilled.