Winter Chutney

I always think of Indian food when I think of chutney, especially mango chutney on salmon. When we took the kids to Disney's Animal Kingdom two years ago, my chutney world exploded.

We ate a meal at the Tusker House and my favorite items were all chutneys – so many different combinations of fruits and spices! I had forgotten about a note I wrote to myself so I could try recreating a mixed fruit compote at home until last week, when I switched purses.

I made a batch last night and it was so good! The husband had seconds and my oldest boy downed a healthy serving.

I served this with pork chops. It would go well with many holidays meals — ham, turkey, chicken, even sweet potatoes.

This recipe makes a lot, so you can serve it at large festive gatherings, use it with those turkey leftovers in the freezer or package in pretty canning jars and give as homemade gifts.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Winter Chutney
Inspired by recipes from Disney and Spice Islands

1 bag fresh cranberries
3 medium apples, peeled, cord and diced
2/3 cup onion, finely chopped
2/3 cup golden raisins
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
1 heaping teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
1/3 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup pecans, chopped
2/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients up to and including nutmeg in a large saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring often.

Remove cover and add pecans, corn syrup and vinegar. Continue to cook for another 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

Remove from heat and let rest for 10 minutes or so. The chutney will thicken as it cools. Enjoy!

Halloween Snacks

My youngest, Sam, loves to be in the kitchen, so we recently took a snack prep class at a local grocery store. (Thanks, Hyvee and dietitian Katrina!) It was great to spend some time together and he enjoyed being crafty with food.

He's become more of a picky eater. I was hoping if he made some new treats on his own, and they looked silly or goofy, he would actually eat them. Sam only devoured one snack.

Can you guess which one?

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Owl Snack

• Large or medium round crackers (like Ritz)
• Small round crackers 
• Plain cream cheese
• Sliced almonds
• Whole almonds
• Raisins or dried cranberries

Spread cream cheese on a large round cracker. Add two small round crackers at top for eyes. Use a dab of cream cheese on each to attach the raisins for pupils.

Press on an almond beak and almond-slice feathers.


Tombstone Pudding Cups

• Cool whip
• Chocolate yogurt
• Crushed chocolate sandwich cookies
• Milano cookies
• Candy corn pumpkins and candy corn
• Chocolate icing

In a clear plastic cup, gently mix cool whip and yogurt. Top with crushed chocolate cookies. Stand a Milano cookie up along edge to be a tombstone. Use a toothpick dipped into icing to write R.I.P. or another saying on the gravestone.

Place candy corn pumpkins and other candies to decorate.

Celery Mummies

• Veggie cream cheese
• Celery sticks
• Ham slices, cut into thin strips
• Dried cranberries, cut into pieces

Spread or pipe cream cheese into celery piece. Place or wrap ham pieces in a criss-cross pattern over celery, so that it looks like bandages. Add two dried cranberry eyes between bandages.



Apple Bites

• Large apple slice or two smaller apple slices
• Your favorite jam, nut butter or sunflower butter 
• Slivered almonds or pumpkin seeds

Slice large apple slice down middle, while keeping intact. Or, place two apple slices together to resemble a mouth. Spread on jam or nut butter for the tongue. Add slivered almonds for teeth.

P.S. The pudding cup was Sam's favorite.

Fresh Apple Pie

I grew up close to an orchard and apple pie is one of the first things I learned how to bake. For years I would make the crust from scratch, using a big bowl and two knives to incorporate the butter into flour.

Discovering the pastry cutter in my early 20s was a major breakthrough. After I got married, a friend told me about using a food processor to slice the apples. Game changer! I once packed that kitchen gadget and drove it from Cincinnati to my parents house in New York just to make Thanksgiving pie baking easier.

This year I've been experimenting with prepping dough in the food processor, too. I recommend it for saving time and less mess. I also discovered (thanks to Ina Garten) that adding shortening to the dough recipe makes the dough  easier to work with.

After a recent visit to our local apple orchard here in Illinois, my boys were craving apple pie and my husband needed a treat for an office party. So I put the food processor to work. I had two pies in the oven in a little more than an hour.

Another secret to perfect pie: use a variety of apples. You need at least 2-3 Granny Smith, then use your favorites. Fuji, Honeycrisp, Macintosh and Jonagold hold up well, as does Sweet Tango, which I just discovered.

If you're a novice, don't be afraid of making pie. It's a great way to get the whole family in the kitchen.

If you end up with extra apple filling and enough dough scraps, let your kids make small hand pies or cook the apples in a saucepan for some apple sauce.

Mangia! Mangia!

Andrea

Fresh Apple Pie

For the crust:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup chilled vegetable shortening

1/2 cup ice water

Egg wash (1 egg whisked together with 1 tablespoon water)

1-2 teaspoons coarse sugar

For the filling:

4-5 pounds of mixed apples, peeled, cored, quartered and thinly sliced by hand or with food processor

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks

*One note: I tend to just eyeball the apples and spices, tasting as I go. I also pile the apples high in the pie plate. So feel free to make your own adjustments.

To make the crust, set up your food processor with the steel blade. Add flour, salt and sugar to the processor bowl and pulse to combine. Add butter and shortening and pulse until the butter is the size of small pebbles, about 12 times.

With the food processor running, pour in the cold water until the dough comes together. Turn out onto a floured counter and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate while you make the filling.

To make the filling, thinly slice apples by hand or set up your food processor with the larger slicing disk. Place each apple quarter into feeder shoot and let the food processor do the work. Place apples into a large bowl.

Add sugar, flour, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix to combine so that all the apples are coated in the spices. Add more spices if you think it needs it, or if you used more apples. Set aside.

Grab dough from fridge. Lightly flour (1-2 tablespoons) a counter. Cut dough ball in half. Gently roll out one half of dough into a roughly 10-inch circle. Carefully fold in half and place into pie plate. Unfold and press dough into pie plate. Let extra dough hang over the edge, then trim it so that 1/2 inch or less hangs over.

Brush the edge of the bottom crust with egg wash. This will help the top crust stick to it.

Fill pie crust with apple filling. Arrange apples in a mound slightly higher in the center. Dot with butter chunks.

Roll out the rest of the dough to make the top crust. Place dough on top of filling. Trim off excess dough. Press together edges of dough. Crimp with fingers or a fork.

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Cut a few 1-inch slits in top crust to allow steam to escape during baking.

Place a sheet pan lined with parchment on a lower rack in the oven, to catch any drippings from the pie.

Place pie on a middle or upper middle rack in the oven. Bake for about an hour, until the crust is brown and the juices of the pie are bubbling. If crust is browning too fast, cover loosely with foil.

When done, remove and let cool before serving. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream. Refrigerate leftovers.

My kids devoured half the pie before I could take a pretty photo!

Mom's Potato Salad

We had tons of family gatherings when I was growing up. That was a big plus to living where all of our relatives were within an hour's drive.

In the summer, potato salad was usually on the menu. My mom added a little twist to her recipe and I still love it — a chopped apple. The fruit gives the side salad an unexpected sweet crunch.

I remember my mom served it to a college friend's family when they were visiting. When I saw my friend's step dad again more than a decade later, he remembered the potato salad!

My recipe here may differ a bit from my mom's (because I make it for a family of 4 and she was usually serving 30+ people), but you'll get the same effect.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Mom's Potato Salad

1.5 or 2 pound bag of small yellow potatoes
1 bunch green onions, sliced and chopped
2 hard boiled eggs
1 large apple, peeled and diced (use Granny Smith, Honey Crisp of Fuji)
1/2 cup of your favorite mayonnaise
1/4 cup dijon or champagne mustard
1 teaspoon dill (fresh or dried)
*1 teaspoon dried spice mix for Green Goddess Dressing
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 1/2 cup diced celery or bell pepper

*If you can't find this, use another 1/2 teaspoon dried dill, 1/2 teaspoon dried onion, 1/2 teaspoon dried celery flakes and 1 teaspoon minced garlic.

Peel the potatoes. Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Set the pot to boil. Once thee water boils, lower the heat a little and cook until a knife easily inserts into the potatoes.

Remove potatoes from heat and drain. Then rinse with cold water. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, dice them and place in a large bowl.

Add egg, green onions, apple and any other vegetables, if using. Add mayonnaise, mustard, dill and Green Goddess spices.

Mix to combine, until everything is coated in the dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve right away or chill before serving.

I liked this potato salad with barbecue chicken and grilled squash.

Refrigerate any leftovers.

Baby Greens, Apple & Onion Salad

I'm a big fan of salads. My typical lunch is usually chicken and baby greens topped with dried cranberries, goat or feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. But things have changed.

Two weeks before Christmas, when I was stretched thin and looking for fast and easy foods to put on the dinner table, I found this salad. It quickly became my new favorite (I had it for lunch again yesterday) and I know I'll be eating this often as I try to detox after the holidays. I’ve already memorized the recipe.

The dressing whips up in 5 minutes. The taste is such a great combo of sweet and tart that I don't even miss the cranberries and cheese. 

This simple salad goes nicely with a festive meal, too. I made this for Christmas at my mother-in-law's house. To keep things stress-free and simple, she ordered a catered holiday turkey dinner from Kroger. Despite the pre-cooked bird needing more time in the oven than we anticipated, the food was delicious and we were able to spend more time with each other rather than in the kitchen.

When we got to dessert (my sister-in-law whipped up a lemon meringue pie and I baked a Brownie Pudding Cake) I was pretty glad we had added the salad! 

If you need something green to go along with a New Year’s meal or you are craving a healthy and light main dish, give this salad a try. Add some cooked chicken or turkey and dinner is served.

Happy New Year and Mangia! Mangia!

--Andrea

Baby Greens, Apple & Onion Salad

Inspired by Rachel Ray

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon grain or brown mustard

1 tablespoon honey

16 ounces salad greens (baby spinach, spring greens or a mixture)

1 large apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (Golden Delicious or Fuji works well)

¼ red onion, thinly sliced

Ground pepper to taste

Place oil, vinegar, mustard and honey in a small jar or plastic container. Cover tightly with a lid and shake until well blended. 

Place greens, apple and onion in a large bowl. Pour dressing over greens and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Here's the salad brightening up our Christmas dinner.

Apple, Lemon & Tomato Chicken

When I was growing up, my mom would leave notes on the kitchen table for my brother, sister and I to find when we got home from school. Usually there were instructions on what to start getting ready for dinner. The dish we made most often was baked chicken with paprika and garlic.

When I got my first job, I wanted to expand the chicken recipes I knew how to cook. I came across 365 Ways to Cook Chicken in a local bookstore and have been using it ever since. (I got my Mom a copy, too.)

This one-pot meal is full of fall flavors and is easy to make. Be sure to thinly slice the lemon so that the rind softens and you can eat it along with everything else in the dish. Now that I have kids, I serve this with egg noodles, but it tastes just delicious on its own, too.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Apple, Lemon & Tomato Chicken
Adapted from the 365 Ways to Cook Chicken cookbook

1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
4 thin, skinless, boneless chicken breasts (you can pound out thicker breasts to make them thinner)
1 medium white or yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 large lemon, thinly sliced
2 apples, cored and sliced
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
8 ounces egg noodles cooked to package directions (optional)

In a bowl combine tomatoes, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Set aside.

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Toss onion slices over chicken. Pour tomato sauce on top. Lay lemon slices over everything.

Bring to a boil. Then cover pan with a lid and lower the heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add apple slices. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes, until chicken is tender.  Remove chicken and apples to a platter and keep warm.

Add dissolved corn starch to sauce in pan and turn heat up to high. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring until sauce thickens. Spoon sauce over chicken and apples.

Serve with egg noodles if you like.

You can find the 365 Ways to Cook Chicken cookbook on Amazon.

Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Shallots

I tend to go through cooking phases. For instance, there was my stir fry phase. I'd make stir fry at least once a week. Pork, chicken, beef... No protein was safe from my skillet. I'd saute slivers of meat with whatever veggies I had on hand and pile it over rice. Et voila. Dinner was served. My stir fry kick went on for too long. One day at dinner I noticed the husband pushing beef & broccoli around his plate. "What's wrong, hon? Don't you like the stir fry?" Always one to be frank, the husband laid it out for me. "It's good, but..." Here he paused, searching for the right words. "I think we've been having a bit too much stir fry."

Apparently weekly stir fry isn't for everyone.

Same situation with pork tenderloin. Since it's delicious, lean, and quick-cooking, I went through a serious pork tenderloin phase. After another honest talk with the husband, I realized I overdid it. So I cut back. And when I made Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Shallots, my judiciousness paid off.

"This is so good!" the husband exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Pork tenderloin is delicious. I really like this."

Is this a sign that I can commence Pork Tenderloin Phase II? I can only hope.

Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Shallots
Adapted from The Chew
Serves: 4

1 (1.25 pound) pork tenderloin
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 shallot peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/3 cup apple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season pork with salt and pepper and 1/2 teaspoon Herbes de Provence. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Sear pork until it's browned on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Remove pork to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and return to medium-high heat. Add apples, shallot, garlic, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon Herbes de Provence. Cook, stirring, until apples and shallot begin to soften and caramelize, about 3 minutes. Add apple juice and cook for 1 minute, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Place reserved pork on top of apples. Roast in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until pork reaches an internal temperature of 135-140 degrees. Remove from oven, tent with foil, and allow pork to rest for 10 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Slice pork into medallions and serve with apples and shallots.

Apple Cinnamon Bread

How's your Christmas shopping going? Mine is...well, it's still going. That's all I need to say about that. 

But today I'm here to help you spread some Christmas cheer. Do you need a little hostess gift? Something for your neighbor or the nursery worker at church who deals with your crying baby every week? (Not that I would know anything about that last one or anything.) I have just the ticket: Apple Cinnamon Bread. 

If you come bearing a loaf of this bread—a tender crumb, studded with apples, and gilded with an avalanche of streusel topping—your recipient will be thrilled. But you can take it to the next level without too much trouble. You can present your Apple Cinnamon Bread in one of those cute disposable pans. (They even sell Christmas-y ones at Target so you can pick them up next time you're getting Lysol wipes.) Make it even better by pairing your bread with a little jar of cinnamon. (Tie a little ribbon or twine around the cinnamon if you're feeling fancy.) 

If I may, I'd like to recommend Penzeys cinnamon. Besides the fact that Penzeys is a local company with great products, my reason for giving Penzeys a little plug is selfish: I totally pilfered this recipe from them. I come up with most of the recipes on this site, either adapting other recipes or pulling them from the empty space between my ears. This recipe, though, is 100% Penzeys. I thought about tweaking it, but the original was too doggone good to mess with. And it would have been cruel of me not to share something this delicious; I had to tell you about it. Hence the plug. It helps alleviate my guilt. 

So bake Apple Cinnamon Bread! Eat Apple Cinnamon Bread! Gift Apple Cinnamon Bread!

Apple Cinnamon Bread

From Penzeys

Makes 2 loaves

Bread:

4-5 large apples*, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1" pieces (about 4 cups)

4 large eggs 

1 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 cups flour

2 cups granulated sugar

Topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. Grease to 9" x 5" loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside. 

Beat eggs with an electric mixer on medium high until fluffy. Add oil and beat until combined. Mix in vanilla, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Add flour and sugar and beat on low until combined, then beat on high until the mixture is smooth. (The batter is very thick.) Gently stir in the apples by hand so they don't get broken up. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans.

Make the topping in a separate small bowl. Stir together flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Use a fork or your fingers to cut in the butter until it's crumbly. Sprinkle the topping evenly on each loaf. Bake for about 1 hour, until the loaf feels fairly firm when pressed in the middle. 

*I used McIntosh apples because I wanted them to melt into the bread a little bit. If you want your apples to remain more firm, try a Granny Smith.

Crockpot Applesauce

It's time for the annual pilgrimage to the apple orchard, folks. Don't know where the closest one is? The Pick-Your-Own website is a handy resource for all manner of U-Pick information. (And they're not paying me to say that; I just think it's a useful website.) So find a farm and get picking!

{Note: The preceding paragraph about apple picking was really just an excuse to show you a picture of my boy and his fluffy hair when we went apple picking. I have no shame.}

Once you've made it home with your bounty, you'll surely be thinking to yourself, "What am I supposed to do with fourteen bushels of apples?" Then an apple will roll off the counter and smack you on the foot and it will really smart and you'll hang your head in shame. It's really hard to exhibit self control when one is picking apples. Really hard.

Allow me help you out with some of that fruit. Today we're making applesauce, and we're doing it in the crockpot.

I have made applesauce many times. Why in tarnation did it take me so long to make it in my crockpot?! This is by far the easiest way to make applesauce. Bonus: Your house smells unbelievably delicious all afternoon. Seriously. If I could bottle this scent, I'd put Yankee Candle out of business.

This recipe calls for lots of apples, but they cook waaaaaay down. And it's not a bad thing to have extra applesauce on hand. It keeps well in the refrigerator and also freezes beautifully. Or you can get ambitious and can your applesauce. (Which I did. Yikes. More on that later this week!)

For now, let's get (slow) cooking.

Crockpot Applesauce

20 apples* (approximately), peeled, cored, and sliced
1/4 cup light brown sugar (or to taste)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup water

Fill your slow cooker with apple slices. I wanted to make a lot of applesauce, so I really piled those babies in there. Sprinkle apples with brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour water over top. Cook on high for about 4 hours or on low for about 6. If you like your applesauce chunky, you're finished at this point. If you like smooth applesauce, you can puree it in the food processor or food mill until it reaches your desired consistency.

*I used primarily McIntosh and Cortland apples. I think that using a variety makes for extra delicious applesauce.

Curried Apple Chicken

I'm a fan of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Sure they don't have as much flavor as the bone-in, skin-on variety, but you know what? They're convenient, they cook quickly, and they're healthy. I'm sold.

I think it's safe to say, though, that this poultry staple could benefit from a little somethin'-somethin'. You can't just slap a bland, broiled breast on your table and call it dinner. Well, technically you could, but no one would like it. Give your chicken some razzle dazzle with a simple pan sauce. When your chicken is finished cooking, set it aside to rest for a few minutes, tucked in nicely under a piece of foil. Then stir a few ingredients into the same pan to make your sauce. Voila! Your boring chicken is now the star of the show.

Curried Apple Chicken
Adapted from Melissa D'Arabian
Serves: 4

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to even thickness
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large apple, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 cup mango chutney
1/2 cup water

Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high. Add chicken and cook about 14 minutes, flipping halfway through, until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate; cover and keep warm.

Add remaining tablespoon oil to the skillet. Add apple and onion and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add curry powder and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in chutney and water, making sure you scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Allow sauce to cook until it begins to thicken, about 3 minutes. Stir any accumulated chicken juices into the sauce. Serve chicken with sauce.