Harvest Fruit Crisp

*Note: I don’t usually consume much of the sweets I’ve made. Mostly, I bake for other people. This crisp, however, is so delicious… well… let’s just say that I won’t have to worry about distributing any at work in order for it all to get eaten. This is another recipe with the sugar cut back, but make sure you taste your apples – if they’re very bland, you may want to add a bit more sugar.

Today was our last farm share delivery of the season, and we got yet another harvest of apples. As I mentioned in this entry, autumn is a great time to take advantage of local harvests. I haven’t done any baking with apples lately, though, so ours were accumulating. I’d meant to make a crisp last week, and this week, I was low on energy after working and picking up the share, but, well, I’d thrown a pot of vegetable stock on to boil, and I had some free time on my hands. And thus, the Harvest Crisp is born.

I was really dying to stir in about a half cup of pumpkin puree with the apples, but I didn’t want to open a whole can when I only have the huge ones.

This recipe is kind of like stone soup. You can substitute what you have and adjust what you don’t. I’m going to throw in some suggestions, but feel free to improvise. I’ve bolded the choices that I made.

Ingredients

5-8 medium apples, preferably of mixed variety, peeled, cored, and sliced
2-3 pears, peeled, cored, and sliced (optional)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
A handful of walnuts or almonds (optional)
A handful of fresh cranberries, dried currants, or raisins (optional)
A handful of sunflower seeds

And, everyone will need:

1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons natural sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
a bit of lemon juice (to keep the apples from browning)
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Directions

Toss the fruit in the lemon juice, and, if using, the pumpkin puree.

Arrange the fruit in the bottom of an oven-safe casserole dish or 9×13 baking pan.

In a stand mixer, or, with a pastry blender, cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients (oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, natural sugar, brown sugar, salt). Mix until large crumbs are formed and the mixture has an even texture.

Stir in any miscellaneous ingredients such as, in this case, the cranberries and walnuts. Spread the oat mixture over the fruit evenly so that the fruit is completely covered.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the crisp is brown and the fruit is bubbling. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Make-Ahead Mac&Cheese with Herbs and Chard

I’ve been trying to get ahead on making meals for the freezer again, for nights when I’m not feeling well, for nights when Charlie and I are tired, for nights when Charlie doesn’t get home from school until ten o’clock at night. I’ve reached out to some of my friends to help me fill my freezer, but there is a space sometimes between good intentions and executions, so I’m trying to get at least a few in there on my own.

So yesterday, in my infinite wisdom of completely overdoing things and being far too tired after, I decided to make some meals, even though I’d already prepared a variation on Mock Morrocan Lentils and Rice for dinner (and leftovers), and even though I’d already made cinnamon raisin yeast bread in the morning.

I went with macaroni and cheese, since it’s delicious and comforting, and we had cheese and pasta in the house. I don’t feel that a meal is complete without a vegetable, though, so I had to throw something in there. Usually, for us, it’s broccoli, but we were totally out of that. I did, however, have some dark green chard with bright red stems that came in this week’s farm share.

I wondered if it had been done before, and some googling told me that it had. I only looked at one recipe, and it suggested that I boil the chard first. I was going for simplicity, though, not to mention that I just hate when veggies are wimpy, limp, and lacking nutrition. The gooey sauce that I make will surely soften the chard just from being on it, and the time in the oven should take care of the rest. I risked it and just heaped it in, shredded into small pieces.

I’m guessing that this is going to make about 4 generous servings (two nights of dinner for Charlie and I), or, more likely, 4 regular servings plus two lunchtime portions, especially if it’s served with a salad or something.

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cups chopped, de-stemmed chard (or spinach, kale, or similar dark greens)
1 box whole wheat rotini pasta
2 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded*
4 oz jack cheese, shredded*
4 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded*
*I often don’t bother shredding, as it’s time-consuming. I’ll just quickly cut up a block of cheese into small chunks or strips.

Directions

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Keep warm.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, for about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook for 5 minutes or until thickened, whisking constantly. Stir in about 3/4 of the shredded cheese, continuing to stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. (If the cheese isn’t melting, turn up the heat a tiny bit at a time.) Add the thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, sage, and fresh parsley, and stir over the heat for another minute or two.

Remove from heat. Add the salt and black pepper and stir, then add the pasta and stir until coated.

Now, take your freezer containers of choice, and lightly grease them. I recommend disposable pie pans, since I was able to get a huge stack of them for a couple of bucks one time, and I still have a ton left.

Scoop a bit of mac&cheese into the bottom of the pan, just so that it covers the bottom. Then, take half of your shredded chard (approximately a large handful) and plunk it down in the middle of the mac&cheese. Now, pile more mac&cheese on top, completely hiding the chard. Take the remaining shredded cheese or cheese chunks and poke some into the mixture and spread some on top. Repeat with the second pie pan.

(If you’re not making yours ahead, you can just put it all in any old oven-safe casserole dish that you lightly greased.)

Cover it tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil and plop it in the freezer.

When you’re ready to eat it, let it thaw for a while, then pop it in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot all the way through. I recommend leaving the tin foil on until the last 10 minutes or so, otherwise your top cheese might be burnt and your top pasta might get dried out.

Tobarnut Soup

Tobarnut Soup is Tomato, Barley, and Butternut Squash Soup.

[I should have posted this weeks ago! Oops!]

We had some tomatoes that were accumulating from our farm share, despite the fact that there has been a terrible blight that has affected the tomatoes in our area this season. Somehow, farmer Rich has managed to get us a variety of tomatoes, including some lovely heirloom tomatoes which we really enjoyed. I had about four large tomatoes (three red and one yellowy-orange) and two small yellow tomatoes, so I was plotting a tomato soup. When the butternut squash arrived this week alongside a few of the large tomatoes, I started imagining putting the two together. I’ve got a great creamy tomato soup recipe that I’m sure I’ll post here one day that I finally got around to posting, but for now, I’ve decided to combine tomatoes, roasted butternut squash, and barley for another slow cooker soup.

It may seem like our house is overrun with soup these days, but I like to put the soup in little individual containers and put them in the freezer. We’ve also had pretty much the entire household with some kind of cough and sniffles, though we’re not sure if it’s allergies or what. Either way, soup has been a very welcome meal.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium butternut squash
2 tablespoons flour
3 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
3/4 cup barley
1 tablespoon fresh basil
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 teaspoons fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1 cup light cream or milk (optional)
1/4 cup or so grated parmesan cheese (optional)
Salt and pepper

Directions

Cut butternut squash lengthwise and place face up on a lightly greased baking sheet. Roast the butternut squash in a 400 degree oven for about 30-60 minutes (depending on the size and shape of your squash) or until soft enough to scoop.

Let cool, then scoop out the part with the seeds and discard. Remove the skin. Mash the flesh, either with a fork, a potato masher, or a blender.

I’ve made this soup twice now, and the first time I made it where I blended the tomatoes before they went in, and the second time I didn’t. If you want a very smooth soup, you should do this, but otherwise, don’t worry about it – being in a slow cooker will break it down a bunch.

Toss the olive oil, onions, and flour together in the bottom of the slowcooker. Ideally, you’d do this in a medium sized pot, heating the oil on medium heat, then adding the onions, cooking for about 3-5 minutes or until soft, then adding the flour, stirring constantly, cooking about one minute, not allowing it to brown. But, since this is a slowcooker, and I was in a hurry and didn’t want to wash another pot, I just threw it all in and it worked out just fine.

Add the onion mixture to the slow cooker. Pour the chopped (or blended) tomatoes over the onion mixture and stir well. Add the mashed butternut squash. Stir well.

Stir the barley, basil, rosemary, bay leaf, and parsley in. Add a bit of salt and pepper, but you may need more later.

Set the slow cooker to “low” and check on it in about 5-6 hours.

When the barley is soft, probably after about 6 hours in the slow cooker, be sure to remove the bay leaf, then add the parmesan cheese (optional). Add the milk or cream*, if desired, and stir. Taste to adjust for more salt and pepper if needed.

*The barley tends to soak up a lot of liquid even once the soup is done cooking, so for my freezer portions, I omitted the milk, and I’ll add it back when I heat the soup.

Fragranced Whole Wheat Bread

Served here with butter and honey, and raspberry jam, and tea.

I’ve made brownies and cookies and cupcakes galore in my new KitchenAid Mixer, but I haven’t baked bread since before I herniated some discs in my back in July, as I was slowly easing my way back into baking, and baking bread was usually part of an all day baking fest for me.

The other day, however, I finally got around to making some. We were supposed to go visit our friends Kai and Sarah in the city on Saturday, and I was going to bring a loaf for us to have with dinner, or just for them to have, but unfortunately, I ran out of spoons, and Charlie was tired, too. It was a rainy day, and we’d been trying to finish getting our room organized and reassembled after painting it a few weeks ago. Sadly, our dinner date didn’t happen, but the bread did.

Well, I will definitely be making bread a lot more frequently now that I have this mixer! I knew that getting it would help me when my hands hurt, but I never imagined how much. The dough hook does a wonderful job of kneading the dough for you, saving my arthritic hands from doing a whole lot of work. Of course, you can still make this recipe if you’re kneading with your good ol’ hands attached to your body. It will just take you a few minutes longer than it took me.

A few notes about the recipe:

• Since this recipe calls for scalded milk, I suggest trying something interesting like an herb infusion. There’s instructions how to do that below.

• While you could use entirely whole wheat flour, that can make a reall dense loaf. The bread flour has a higher gluten content, making it a bit chewier, and adding a bit of white flour makes the loaf slightly lighter.

• Why do I have to scald the milk? Can’t I just dump it in?

KitchenSavvy tells us that there’s some evidence that some of the proteins in milk might make your bread not rise as well, so it’s better to go ahead and do it. Besides, then you get to add the yummy herb infusion!

Ingredients

*Makes two loaves. I made one round in a 9″ pie tin, and one traditional loaf shaped.

5 teaspoons active dry yeast dissolved in 4 tablespoons hot water

2 2/3 cups milk
1/2 cup oil (optional… I’m fairly sure I forgot this and mine turned out great, though your bread will last longer if you include this)

1/2 cup molasses (honey is also ok if you don’t have molasses)
5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 cup bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
a few stalks of a fresh herb (optional – I used rosemary)

Directions

First, scald the milk by heating it in a heavy-bottomed pan on low heat. If using an herb, add it to the milk now. Stir it occasionally until it is steaming and small bubbles appear around the edges, but don’t let it boil.

Strain the milk and let it cool.

In your stand mixer (or a large nonmetallic bowl), combine the yeast/hot water mixture, whole wheat flour, bread flour, white flour, oil, molasses, salt, and cooled, scalded, strained milk. If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook to knead for about 4 minutes or until the mixture is smooth. (If kneading by hand, knead for about 6-8 minutes.)

Divide the dough into two parts. Place in two separate lightly greased nonmetallic bowls and cover with a slightly damp towel. Let the dough rise for about 60 minutes in a warm location.

Lightly grease the container (such as a loaf pan, but I also used a 9″ pie pan), then shape each loaf into each pan. Cover loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let rise for another 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F for 20 minutes, then tent with aluminum foil. Bake for another 15-20 minutes depending on the shape of the loaf, for a total of 35-40 minutes. King Arthur’s Flour recommends the nifty trick of testing it for doneness by removing it from the pan and tapping it on the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it’s done!

Cool on a wire rack and store in a plastic bag.

Foster Cats Tomato Soup

A friend of mine was talking about restaurant quality tomato soup, and I thought I should dig this recipe out from my archives that I never got around to posting here.

This is called Foster Cats Tomato Soup because about a year ago, my sister, Bianca, needed someone to watch her cats for a few months. Our friends Micah and Casey stepped up to bat, and we would sometimes go over to their place in Brooklyn on a Saturday afternoon to visit with the cats and have lunch. We’d take turns cooking, and when it came to my turn, this was one of the first things I made. Served, of course, with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Homemade tomato soup is much easier than you think, and it doesn’t have all the junk that the stuff from a can has in it.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and finely diced
2 tablespoons flour
2 pound fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, or 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, juices reserved (I used crushed for time sake)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (I used dried)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (I used dried)
1 bay leaf
1 cup light cream or milk (I used heavy cream)
1/4 cup or so grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
(Optional) 1 cup ish cooked white rice (We cooked it in the rice cooker)

Directions

In a large nonreactive saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes without allowing to color. Add tomatoes with their juices, broth, tomato paste, basil, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer stirring frequently, 15 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf.

In a food processor or blender, puree soup in batches until smooth (if you’re particularly lucky, you can use an immersion blender to accomplish this). Return to pan and stir in cream and parmesan cheese. Add rice (if using). Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer until heated through, 3 to 5 minutes, and serve.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Last weekend, we went up to Massachusetts to visit a whole mess of our friends, and of course, wherever there is a whole mess of our friends, I try to make baked goods appear. First, we drove up to Vermont to buy some maple sugar, since it’s an ingredient that I’ve been dying for since I saw it on Iron Chef America sometime late in the summer, and I haven’t been able to get it in any store around here. We went to Plummer’s Sugar House, which was down a scenic drive with the start of some lovely fall foliage. Then, we visited with a combination of old friends and new friends, plus we met up with my brother Jon and some of his friends.

In my baking arsenal, I brought a double batch of my trusty Environmentally Friendly Brownies, six of my new Mini Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cakes, and two dozen autumn themed Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (though we gave one to the nice gent at Plummer’s Sugar House).

Not many people I know bring a whole cooler full of goodies with them on a weekend visit, but no one complained! I also had, defrosting from frozen in the cooler, a mini-loaf that’s a variation on this nectarine muffin recipe and either an apple or a peach pie (they weren’t labeled well in the freezer) from the pie eating contest, both for my brother who also happens to live in Massachusetts.

People have been begging for this recipe ever since I mentioned it, so here it is! In pumpkin recipes, I usually decrease the sugar and increase the spices, so that’s the main difference that you’ll see between my recipe and most that are around the internet. As for the cream cheese frosting, it’s another experiment that I’d never tried out before, and it was awesome! It was a perfect match for the cupcakes. Some internet recipes recommend as much as four times as much confectioner’s sugar in the frosting, but that would make me absolutely ill, so I recommend starting with a minimal amount and increasing it if absolutely necessary.

Ingredients: Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons natural sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree (a 15oz can)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: Pumpkin Cupcakes

I prepared mine in my stand mixer, but as usual, feel free to use your trusty bowl or hand mixer.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake trays with cupcake liners.

Mix butter, brown sugar, natural sugar, eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin puree.

In a separate bowl, mix your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt).

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing constantly. Alternate adding the milk and the dry ingredients until both are completely added.

Scoop mixture into pre-lined cupcake trays.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool completely before frosting.

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients: Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter
8 oz cream cheese
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts (optional)
orange sprinkles (optional)

Directions: Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Combine butter, cream cheese, maple syrup, confectioner’s sugar, and cinnamon. Mix with a hand mixer or stand mixer until smooth. If desired, add more confectioner’s sugar 1/4 cup at a time.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes prior to frosting.

Top with a few autumn themed sprinkles and a couple of chopped walnuts.

If you’re baking ahead, store the unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze if it will be longer than that. The cream cheese frosting should be stored separately in an airtight container in the refrigerator and the cupcakes should be frosted right before serving.

Mini Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cakes

Yesterday, I finally got a chance to search through my Moosewood Cookbook that I’ve had for ages. I tried not to get too distracted on the desserts, since we were looking for easy entrees that we would both enjoy. We found lots, and we were inspired to make calzones last night. I also wrote down the names of a bunch of other recipes that we want to make so the next time we are contemplating what to make for dinner, we can go to that list, instead of searching the Internet.

Since we were making calzones, however, I couldn’t help but want to make the ricotta cake, since we were going to have a big tub of ricotta anyway. This recipe is based loosely on the Moosewood Cookbook recipe, however, I’ve made a handful of changes, like adding a graham cracker crust, for example.

Do yourself a favor. Use a springform pan if you’re making a cheesecake. If you’re not using the graham cracker crust that I recommend, use an aluminum pan that you can just eat out of, or, I suppose you could try cupcake liners. Putting them in a regular pan…. just will not be successful!

Ingredients

2 cups ricotta
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons flour
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1.5 teaspoons lemon zest
1.5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 fresh mint leaves, put through a food processor or minced extremely finely (I used my SlapChop)
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (more if you like)
12 mini graham cracker crusts (I bought them pre-made)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

I used my stand mixer, but you can use a food processor or a bowl and a hand mixer.

Add ricotta, sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla, almond extract, vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice, and minced mint to the bowl and stir completely. Scrape the sides of the bowl and stir again.

Fold in mini chocolate chips.

Scoop about 1/4 cup of the ricotta mixture into the premade graham cracker crusts. Place crusts on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until solid in the center.

Cool completely, then chill until cold.

Apple™ Crumb Pie (and Thoughts on Local Food)

Charlie’s been making this pie for a while, and he always gets extremely rave reviews with it. (This photo is from when he and Ben made the pie for me once!)

You may have noticed when I posted the recipes from All Over Your Face, I omitted the apple pie recipe. That’s because when we made our pies, we weren’t happy with the quality of the apples we were able to get during the first week of August. It really wasn’t quite apple season yet. I decided to hold off and post this recipe during peak Granny Smith apple season, since that’s our apple of choice for pie-making. In the New York area, that’s about the third week of September.

Our process with the assembly line pie-making madness for the pie-eating contest was that Charlie would make the dough, I would peel all the fruit, and I would put together the spices and sugars and flavors for the filling. He almost took over on the apple crumb pie, but it ended up being a team effort. I made the filling, and he made the crumb and the dough. Although this is a recipe that he often is wholly responsible for, I’ve taken the liberty, for the purposes of this blog, of making the adjustments that I would make were I making the pie entirely on my own. That is, his version is quite a bit sweeter than mine, but otherwise, it’s essentially the same.

A few more notes on picking your apples… We’re fond of the Granny Smiths because they’re a bit tart and they’re sturdy, so they won’t break down into mush in your pie. You definitely want to avoid Macintosh, as even though those are great for eating, they’re not ideal for baking pies with. Some good options for acquiring your apples are at farmers markets, pick-your-own farms, or leeching off a friend’s CSA. Farmers markets will have a live person to make recommendations about which type of apple from their crop they’d recommend for pie. Pick-your-own farms usually have a map of the orchard with a “Good for eating vs. good for pies” breakdown. Farm shares might have a website or an email that they send out regarding their harvest, or you might just have to guess. In general, you want a firmer, somewhat tart apple.

If you’ve always wanted to try out buying from a farmers market but never did, autumn is the time to do it. Last year I was horribly depressed about our food production situation in this country because I walked into a chain grocery store in September and saw the beautiful displays of apples, of varieties that are local to New York state, but upon closer examination, the apples that were on the shelves were from Washington state, thousands of miles away.

Farmers markets have produce that is local to the area, often organic, and it’s obviously a much closer connection to your food if you’re able to talk to the people who grew it. Although farmers markets sometimes are rumored to have notoriously high prices (these rumors have some truth and some fiction), depending on where you live, apples are often even cheaper at farmers markets than at the grocery store during peak season.

Pick-your-own farms are a really fun alternative to shopping at the grocery store. They’re another way to get fresh, local produce, and have an adventure. This Pick Your Own website can help you find a pick-your-own farm near you. Produce often ends up being super cheap because the farmers don’t have to pay for labor. Some of the farms are quiet, family places, and others are monstrosities with corn mazes and petting zoos and country stores and live music, so you can choose whichever you feel is appropriate for your adventure.

Another way to get local food into your pies is if you have a friend who belongs to a farm share, or Community Supported Agriculture organization. They sometimes get more apples than they know what to do with during this time of year. Let them know that you’re planning to bake, and they’ll likely share the bounty with you when they end up with 30lbs of apples over a couple of weeks. We belong to Catalpa Ridge Farm’s CSA and we love it. (I’m pretty sure I’m going to use all my apples, though!)

Onto the recipe…

Ingredients

1 pastry for double-crust pie (I used Charlie’s Consistent Win Pie Crust)

Crumb Topping:
1 sleeve crushed graham crackers (plain is recommended or it will be quite sweet)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter

Filling:
6 to 8 apples, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

While you’re slicing up the apples, keep them floating in some water and the lemon juice so they don’t turn brown. When you’re ready to start, drain off the water. Next, add the cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg, and flour, and give it a good stir. If you don’t like things very sweet, add the sugar a little at a time and taste it as you go.

Next, in a separate bowl, prepare the crumb topping. Mix graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and flour. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or a fork until crumbly. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Roll out half the dough and place it into the pie pan. Give the apples another good stir, then dump the mixture into the pie crust, mounding them in the middle if possible.

Wash your hands, since we usually do this next part with our hands. Carefully pour the crumb topping into the center of the pie crust, leaving about an inch of apples showing around the edge in between the crust and the topping. Pack the crumb fairly tightly, again, creating a mound in the center of the pie.

Next, roll out the rest of your pie crust, making strips to form a lattice top crust. If you need detailed directions on how to make the lattice crust, they’re also in Charlie’s Consistent Win Pie Crust recipe. Optional: For complete irony, cut out an Apple logo and affix it to the center of the pie. Brush an egg wash (one beaten egg and one tablespoon water) over the top lattice crust if desired.

Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes or until the crust is browning and the apple filling is bubbling. Depending on how much filling you have or how picky you are about having a clean oven, you may want to set your pie tin on some aluminum foil or on top of a baking sheet covered in parchment to catch any drips of sticky fruit.

Crockpot Creamy Corn Potato Soup

Tuesday was Crockpot Attempt Number Two, and I was really hoping to make use of the wonderful corn that arrived as a last minute addition to our farm share this week. A neighboring farm had shared enough for each of us to take six fresh ears, and I had some potatoes left from last week’s share. We also got red bell peppers this week, too, so this soup was meant to be.

Tuesdays I usually work in the afternoon, so I got up when Charlie was leaving for work and started chopping veggies. It took a while because of the arthritis in my hands, but eventually, everything was ready to be thrown into the pot. By the time I got home from work, we had delicious soup and enough plenty of leftovers. The crockpot is turning out to be brilliant for Mondays and Wednesdays when Charlie has class until 9pm, since it just keeps things warm, and then whenever we’re ready to eat, it’s ready to feed us.

Ingredients

4 large ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
4-5 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 small onions (or one medium, but I had these from the farm share)
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil (I eyeballed it to coat the onions at the bottom)
1 tablespoon dried parsley (use double fresh if you have it)
1 teaspoon tarragon
1 teaspoon thyme
2-3 shakes red cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
vegetable stock to cover the the veggies (or, I was out of stock, so I used 3 large bullion cubes and water)
1/2 pint light cream

Directions (for a 4-Quart Slow Cooker)

If you’re feeling ambitious, sauté the onion and garlic for a minute or two, but if not, give them a toss in the olive oil. Then, proceed to dump the corn, carrots, potatoes, pepper, and celery on top of it. Toss in the tarragon, parsley, thyme, and red cayenne pepper in. Pour vegetable stock in until the vegetables are covered by the liquid. Give it a stir. Do not add the cream.

Put the lid on, set the slow cooker to “low” and let it cook for about 7-8 hours. Your milage may vary with cooking times, of course, but try to get it so that the corn is crisp and the potatoes are soft.

When you’ve achieved that, pour in the cream and stir it until it’s incorporated. Taste it and adjust any seasoning.

Autumn’s Arrived Risotto

I’m digging into the archives since this time last year I was unemployed and cooking all the time, so lots of great fall recipes were developed during that time.

I absolutely love butternut squash, and I tried it with my first attempt at risotto ever. I didn’t really look at a recipe for it, I just received instructions over the phone and went with it.

*Note: This makes so much risotto. You’ll probably want to cut the recipe in half, unless you’re planning to drop off take-out containers to everyone you know (which is what I had to do, in addition to eating risotto all the time for a week…). You can also make Arancini di Riso with the leftovers.

Ingredients

6-8 cups broth (I used 4 cups worth of Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, and 4 cups of vegetable broth from bullion)
5 tbsp butter, divided into 4 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cups butternut squash, peeled, and finely diced
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc, but we used Pinot Grigio since that’s what I wanted to drink)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons dried rosemary (fresh if you’ve got it, increase to about double)
2 teaspoons dried thyme (fresh if you’ve got it, increase to about double)
Fresh black pepper and salt

Directions

When you’re ready to go with the risotto, make sure everything is prepped. Keep the pot of stock warm on one burner, then, in a large pot, toss in your the larger quantity of butter, and cook your onions and butternut squash on medium-high heat until the butternut squash is not rock hard, about 5-6 minutes.

Add the risotto, and cook for about a minute, stirring continuously. Next, add the wine, though you may want to do it a little at a time. With risotto, you want to add a little bit of liquid at a time and then stir it until all of the liquid is absorbed.

Once the wine is absorbed, add the stock, one small ladle at a time, stirring constantly. Once the risotto is no longer clear and appears fluffy, you can taste it to see if it is the texture that you desire. I prefer it a bit al dente, but others like it softer.

When you’re nearing the end stages, add the rosemary and thyme, and stir until it’s distributed. At the last moment, add the parmesan cheese and remaining butter, then salt, if necessary, and pepper. Serve with more cheese and pepper.