Apple Butter Loaf

Apple Butter Loaf

Adapted from Bruce Stone by Blue Heron Kitchen

Dedicated to School-Related Professionals

Apple butter rules!  This morning, I found it ruling my fridge, with two opened jars.

I opt for unsweetened and unseasoned apple butter. If you use (or make) apple butter that has added spices, please adjust the spice profile in this recipe accordingly. (I’d leave out all spices, or all that aren’t on the label.)

I baked this loaf for an annual breakfast at school that celebrates and honors our school-related professionals. Without our secretarial staff, custodial staff, our nurse, aides and assistants, kitchen staff, transportation and grounds staff and security guards, we'd be - no, we wouldn't be. This recipe is a symbolic gesture of thanks to our colleagues.

I added a splash of Calvados (apple brandy) to the raisins for a fun SRP breakfast. (Come on, be a sport, two teaspoons of booze in a loaf doth not constitute a trip to the Principal’s office.)

Enjoy this loaf during the cooler and colder days ahead. 

with a smile and song,

jane

Apple Butter Loaf

Ingredients: 

1 ½ c. unbleached, all-purpose flour

¾ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 c. cup unsalted butter, softened

1 c. granulated white sugar

1 egg, size large, room temperature

1 ¼ c. unseasoned apple butter, room temperature

2 tsp. Calvados (apple brandy) (optional)

1/2 cup raisins (organic are best!), covered in hot watered for 10 minutes and then drained

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350º F. (175º C). Grease an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan.

If using Calvados, after draining the raisins, add Calvados and set aside.

Measure apple butter. Truc: To measure apple butter (or other soft stuff like sour cream or cooked pumpkin) in a liquid measure cup, put a piece of plastic wrap on top and smooth down the top with your hands. This way you can ‘see’ if you’ve measured out the correct amount.

Measure oil.

Measure sugar.

Truc: Have all ingredients “ready.” (Pretend you’re filming a cooking show!) Seriously, this is called mise en place, where everything is prepared and all you have to do is throw it all together.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon in a bowl. (It’s always best to freshly grind your nutmeg. You can buy who nutmeg in jars. Nutmeg grinders are easy to find in kitchen stores, on Amazon.com and Microplane makes a spice grater.) You’ll be astounded at the difference and those whole nutmegs last for at least a year.

Now it’s simple:

Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a separate large bowl until smooth and fluffy. It should become really ‘fluffy.’

Add the egg and continue beating until smooth.

Mix in the flour and apple butter alternating, flour/apple butter/flour/apple butter/flour, until just incorporated. Truc: When you alternate wet and dry ingredients, you always end with the dry.

Fold in the raisins and walnuts, by hand, mixing just enough to evenly combine.

Transfer batter into prepared loaf pan and bake in center of preheated oven until toothpick, inserted in center, comes out clean. Depending on the size of your loaf pan, and how your oven is calibrated, this will probably take from 40-50 minutes. (Start checking for readiness on the early side of 40 minutes and after you’ve had a few sips of Calvados.)

Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

yield: 1 loaf

Roasted Carrots with Dill

Roasted Carrots with Dill

Adapted from Tori Avey (The Shiksa in the Kitchen) by Blue Heron Kitchen

Root vegetables - sweet and low down. While you can, buy them at your local farm stand or farmers market. Buy them loose wherever possible. Selecting your own carrots is empowering. (Those orange bags are upsetting.) Buy organic carrots. Carrots are a perfect vegetable.

What I like about this recipe is how the fresh, green-dill-burst lifts the sweet earthiness of roasted carrots. They’re a great addition to a roasted vegetable platter and are perfect accompaniment to fish or fowl. They’ll be gorgeous next to beef ; and I love them with frittatas! 

Why not audition them now as a new addition to your Thanksgiving feast. The color contrast is stunning. They’re light and not as rich as most Thanksgiving sides. For a delicious variation and stunning presentation roast both carrots and parsnips. 

with a smile and song,

jane

Roasted Carrots with Dill

Ingredients:

2 lb. whole carrots (I prefer young medium-sized carrots with greens still attached)
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2-3 Tbsp. freshly chopped dill
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste

Fleur de sel for finishing (optional)

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 400º F. Clean and remove the tops from the carrots (scrub them well or peel them, your preference.)

Place the carrots on a greased sheet tray and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss with your hands, making sure they’re evenly coated with oil. Lightly salt and pepper.

Roast carrots for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and turn the carrots with tongs and sprinkle with 1- 1½ Tbsp. freshly chopped dill, then return to the oven and roast for an additional 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, place carrots on a platter. Sprinkle with remaining fresh dill.

Season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Or sprinkle with optional fleur de sel (my preference!)

Serve immediately, or serve at room temperature.

Serves approximately 6

Election Day and Carrots

Vote!

Soon .. a great and simple recipe for roasted carrots with fresh dill.

But first, VOTE.

Spiced Tomato Chutney

Spiced Tomato Chutney

Adapted from Martha Rose Shulman by Blue Heron Kitchen

This wonderful condiment is between a chutney and a ketchup. Martha calls it ketchup, but in my world, there’s one ketchup; and it’s among one of those 57 varieties.

I used plum tomatoes and didn’t bother to seed or peel them. I coarsely puréed them in my Vitamix and then put the finished product through a medium disc in my Mouli food mill. You don’t have to use a food mill; and you can use regular tomatoes too. If you do, make an ‘x” at the bottom of each one with a sharp paring knife and plunge them in boiling water for one minute. Remove them and their skins will peel like they’ve gone to the dermatologist for a chemical peel. Then slice them through the circumference and squeeze gently to get the seeds out. Voila!

I opted for muscovado sugar over brown sugar. Its molasses appeal worked for me. The roundness of chipotle chili over cayenne also made sense as did raw honey.  You can use whatever hot pepper or mild honey you choose. You’re the boss.

Toast cumin and grind your spices. There’s no explanation for not taking these steps.

This chutney will complement pork roast, roast chicken, meat loaf, hamburgers, turkey burgers, veggie burgers, roasted white or sweet potatoes or grilled veggies or you can use it as a spread on sandwiches. 

peace and love,

jane

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced

2 garlic cloves, minces

¼ c. apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg’s)

¼ c. muscovado sugar, packed (if you can’t find it, use dark brown sugar)

2 pounds plum or other ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced (or not and coarsely puréed in a Vitamix                   or food processor)

1 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted, cooled and ground

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

8 allspice berries, ground

2 whole cloves, ground

1/8 tsp. ground chipotle chili (or ‘other’ hot pepper)

freshly ground pepper, to taste (salt, if you feel it needs it – I didn’t add any)

1 Tbsp. raw honey (or mild honey)

Procedure:

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat olive oil

Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, but not brown – about a minute.

Add vinegar and raise heat. Reduce volume by ½ - about 2-3 minutes.

Add sugar and stir until dissolved.

Add tomatoes and spices (not ground black pepper), bring to a simmer and then reduce to very low.

Partially cover the pot and simmer slowly until reduced to a very thick purée and there’s very little liquid in the pan. This will take at least 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Uncover and continue to simmer until all liquid is evaporated, about 15 more minutes. Season to taste with ground pepper (and if using, salt) and stir in the honey.

Continue to simmer, stirring until mixture is sort of shiny, about 5 more minutes.

Remove from stove and cool. Taste and adjust seasonings. Transfer to a jar and if not using right away, refrigerate.

If you’re putting this through a food mill, you can do it warm or after it has been cooled and refrigerated.

This will keep for a couple of weeks (or more) in the refrigerator.

Oatmeal Cookies

Mimi Sheraton/Dieter Schorner's

Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe was published fairly recently in the NY Times, but it was originally published in the paper in 1981. The recipe is from Sheraton's book “Visions of Sugarplums”, one that I picked up a couple of years ago at Kitchen Arts and Letters, an incomparable bookstore in New York that specializes in everything food and drink. If you're ever looking for a cookbook or have a question about anything to do with cooking or baking, call them.

The Times credits Mimi Sheraton with this recipe because she published it, but Mimi credits Dieter Schorner. Schorner was the pastry chef at Le Cirque in 1981 when Le Cirque wore diamonds on the soles of its shoes.

This is a simple recipe from Schorner's childhood, an extraordinary recipe of memory.

In the Times, Sheraton writes, “Dieter Schorner, the pastry chef at Le Cirque, uses the following recipe to bake the cookies he remembers from his childhood in Germany. He loves the cookies still warm from the oven.” In her book, she quotes Schorner: “When we were children at home, it was our dream to eat these simple cookies warm from the oven.” 

She suggests you try them after only a few minutes of cooling, but in her recipe writes they are “really” meant to be eaten cold. You’ll decide if they’re better warm or cold. You’re the boss.

These aren’t American-style oatmeal cookies. They're neither crispy nor chewy; and they're not "natural" or "earthy." With no spices, save for some pure vanilla extract, you'll taste pure ingredients. No to brown sugar and no to eggs. Butter, flour, oats and raisins merge to produce perfect flavor and texture. Shortbread meets oatcake – cookie nirvana. I froze the lemon sole and ate them for dinner.

I’ve converted volume to weight measure (but retained the original measurements too .. phew), opted for unbleached flour and some organic ingredients and used European style butter. I adhered to Mimi’s/Dieter’s procedure. 

Always use the best quality ingredients you can obtain. It makes a difference.

Truc: If you don’t want to bake off all 5 dozen cookies at once, scoop cookies into balls and place them on a sheet pan that you’ve lined with either parchment or waxed paper. Place in the freezer. Once frozen, wrap well and store in an airtight container or plastic bag. Bake them directly from the freezer, adding time to the bake.

There are just seven ingredients in this recipe. Measure everything out. Grow accustomed to the luxury of mise en place.

To a beautiful and peaceful fall.

peace and love,

jane

Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen from Mimi Sheraton’s "Visions of Sugarplums"

Ingredients:

340.2 g./12 oz. unsalted butter, European style is best

214 g./7.5 oz. or 1 c. granulated sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I always use Baldwin's)

2 tsp. sifted baking soda (sift it, it won't be clumpy)

264 g./9.3 oz. or 2 ¾ c. Old-Fashioned oats  - don't use instant!

      (I used Bob’s Red Mill organic oats. The recipe calls for Quaker brand.)

354 g./ 12.5 oz. or 2 ⅔ c. unbleached all-purpose flour

264 g./9.3 oz. or 1 ½ c. organic raisins

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Butter a cookie sheet and line with parchment. (Do this!)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Stir in vanilla.

Add sifted baking soda and stir in.

Add oatmeal, flour and raisins and stir in thoroughly. Mix well.

Using your hands or a small cookie scoop, form dough into balls, each just a little larger than a walnut.

Place them about one inch apart on parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until pale golden brown. (Despite the baking soda, these will not spread much at all.)

Remove from paper and cool on rack. Although delicious when warm, “these are really meant to be eaten cold.” (Mimi Sheraton)

When cookies have cooled completely, pack in airtight containers.

Yield: approximately 5 dozen