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thanksgiving and apple pie

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It’s Thanksgiving here in Canada. Happy Turkey Weekend! Hope you all got stuffed with turkey and were able to spend some time with your favourite people.

 

This year, we had Thanksgiving dinner at my sister-in-law’s house. She did a fabulous job filling our bellies with juicy turkey and delicious sides like cheesy mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes.

My job was the apple pie. I have to admit, that when it comes to pie, I usually cheat with the crust and use puff pastry.  I searched for a recipe that was easy and came up with one from Martha Stewart.

Q had fun pulsing the flour and butter together in the food processor (and sneaking some bites of butter when he thought I wasn’t looking). After the dough rested in the fridge for a couple of hours, it was really easy to roll out. I will definitely be using this recipe again.

Served with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream, it was the perfect end to a delicious and filling meal.

 

Apple Pie

Crust:
Martha Stewart’s Perfect Pie Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cubed
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Combine the flour, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until well combined and the mixture looks crumbly. Slow add water while pulsing until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 days.

Filling:

5 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and sliced
2 TB lemon juice
1/2 brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Finish:

1 egg
2 TB water

Combine the apples with the lemon juice, sugar, flour and spices.

On a floured board, roll out pastry, using your pie plate as a guide. Place the first circle in the pie plate and fill with filling. Top with the second crust. Fold bottom pastry over the top and crimp the edges. Using a pastry brush, brush the crust with the egg and water mixture and add some vents.

Bake at 375 F for about an hour, until the crust is nice and golden.

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beef ribs with blueberry bbq sauce

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Fall is here! You can feel the chill in the air and see the leaves changing colour.  It really is a beautiful time of year.

I’m still holding on to summer though, and thinking about how we took advantage of all the summer fruits in our meals. We tried to use them in as many things as possible.  Blueberries were used in one of my favourite recipes this summer – blueberry bbq sauce!

I think it was all the yummy BBQ I smelled but it was at the Stampede that I thought I wanted to incorporate blueberries into a bbq sauce. Hubby indulged me and we went right away to stock up on blueberries so that I could play in the kitchen. We also stocked up on ribs, thinking it may be a good vehicle for the sauce.

A little mix of sweet and savoury, this bbq sauce turned out better than I had imagined. It tasted really great in an ooey gooey grilled cheese sandwich. It went amazingly with the big beefy ribs that were cooked in the slow cooker until they were tender and then finished off on the grill. 

I froze some blueberries just so that I could enjoy this sauce later in the year.

Bluberry BBQ Sauce

1/2 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint blueberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 TB coriander
1 TB cumin
1/2 tsp sweet paprika

Heat olive oil in a pan
over medium heat. Cook the onions and garlic until softened.Add blueberries, sugar, vinegar, ketchup and spices and stir to combine. Simmer until the sauce is slightly reduced. Let cool slightly and and then puree in a blender.

Slow Cooker Beef Ribs

Cut a rack of beef ribs into pieces. Smother each rib with the bbq sauce and place in a slow cooker. Add enough water to cover the ribs and let them cook on low for eight hours until the meat is almost falling off the bones. Glaze each rib with more bbq sauce and cook on the grill until they are nicely charred and the sauce is caramelized.

apple pie triangles

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You know that commercial where a guy is just handed food day to day by his mother not really seeing how it’s made and then eventually, when he goes off to university, he looks at a pan and just chucks it, not knowing what to do with it? That scares me.

Any chance we get, my four year old is in the kitchen with me. It’s important for me that he sees how food is being prepared and that he’s involved in the process. I definitely don’t want him to end up like the guy in the commercial.

Q can be a picky eater. He’s moody with food and there’s always negotiations. I know that this is just payback for all the times I gave my parents a hard time. I have noticed a huge difference when my little guy helps in the kitchen though. He feels a sense of ownership over the food and he is so proud of what he has made that he truly wants to eat it and he enjoys it so much more. He helped make curry a few weeks ago, measuring everything out on his own and stirring the pot. There was a huge sense of accomplishment and he ate way more than usual that day. I loved it.

Last week, when I had some time to spend in the kitchen, he decided he wanted to make apple pie. Since I was busy making other stuff, this became his project.

I peeled the apple and he went about cutting it with his little knife into bite sized pieces.

He measured out the cinnamon and brown sugar, folded the pastry into a triangle and happily brushed the tops with a beaten egg.

He was so proud of himself and thought the apple pie that he made all by himself was the best thing ever.  He couldn’t wait to eat it, asking every few minutes, “is it done yet”? This excitement of something that he has created for his family to enjoy is truly amazing. This is a simple recipe that is perfect for getting the kids involved. Super yummy too!

Apple Pie Triangles

1 sheet puff pastry
1 apple, peeled and chopped
2 TB brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 TB flour
1 egg, beaten

In a bowl, combine the apple with sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and flour. Roll out the puff pastry and cut it into twelve squares. Place filling in the middle of each square and fold over, making a triangle. Crimp the edges with a fork. Brush the top of each pastry with the egg and cut a couple of slits to allow steam to escape. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

meyer lemon curd

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Every time I bring home some meyer lemons, I always think I’m going to make some curd and then never get around to it. This time, I was determined to make it happen and I’m so glad I did!

Lemon curd is made by combining lemon juice with butter, eggs and sugar and cooking it into a custard. This tangy and sweet curd is bright, both in taste and colour, I used a recipe by Ina Garten and it was super easy to make. The result was a curd that was luscious and creamy.


Light and refreshing, the curd is perfect with fruit, spread on toast or even served with a slice of some peppercorn shortbread.

Meyer Lemon Curd
From Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa

3 lemons
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
4 extra-large eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Using a carrot peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.

Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below simmer. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.

baked apple chips for apple month

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February is Apple Month! Apples are a staple in our house. Q likes the little ones that he can grab and crunch on and they are perfect to throw into hubby’s lunch.

To celebrate, BC Tree Fruits is having a contest where you and your charity can win $2,000.  The Good To Go campaign asks fans to share a photo showcasing where and how they enjoy their apples. Click here for more info.

We changed it up a bit for Q’s snack and made a batch of apple chips. Perfect for nibbling on while watching Dinosaur Train.

Baked Apple Chips

2 apples
2 TB agave syrup
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Slice the apples as thin as possible and place on a baking sheet.

Combine the agave syrup and the cinnamon together.  With a pastry brush, paint the apple slices with the paste.

Bake for an hour and a half until the apples are crisp.

celebrating apple month at home tasting room

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Hubby and I had date night earlier this month celebrating apple month.  BC Tree Fruits hosted an event at Home Tasting Room where, along with other bloggers and media, we sampled apple inspired food prepared by Chef Rogers.

I’m not a huge fan of beets but the organic beet and apple salad with fresh Calgarian mozza and house grown lemon basil was amazing.

The swiss gougere with Ambrosia apple mousse and candied pecans was a favourite among the crowd.  So light and tasty!

The Noble Farms duck and apple pastilla with ambrosia apple gastrique was hubby’s favorite.  The combination of the apple and the duck in the flaky pastry was definitely a winner.

Another tasty bite with the Braeburn apple and fig tart with organic cold smoked cheddar and sailor jerry cream.

We were also able to view a cooking demo where Chef Rogers prepared a Sous vide Broek Acres pork belly.  He was also kind enough to prepare a non-pork version for us, AAA Alberta beef hanger with apple foam and puree.  Delicious!

It was a great evening tasting the delicious bites and learning about the apple picking and production process.  One of my favourite tips provided by Darcel, a nutritionist with BC Tree Fruits and a grower herself, was putting grated apple in various dishes.  Any way to sneak in fruits and veggies is always a good thing.  From the delicious food that we sampled, it was evident that apples can be incorporated into any kind of dish, both sweet and savoury.  Check out the BC Tree Fruits website for lots of apple recipes.

You have until the end of the month to participate in BC Tree Fruits “Artful Apple” contest and win prizes like an Okanagan vacation.

crab apple and ginger chutney

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Last week, Q and his cousins went over to my aunt’s house for apple picking, something that has become an annual event.  The kids, aged 2 to 5, using ice cream pails as baskets,  gathered as many little crab apples that they could.  It didn’t take long, but it was really cute, watching them scramble to see who could get to the apples first.

We came home with half a pail of apples.  Since my oven was still not working (have I complained about that enough yet), a pie was not an option unless I wanted to use the little toaster oven.  I had seen on twitter mentions of an apple chutney by Aarti Sequeira, of Aarti Party on Food Network (why do we not have this show yet in Canada?).  I had to make some changes as I didn’t have a few of the ingredients.  The original recipe can be found here.

The resulting chutney was thick and sweet with just a hint of spice.  It was a great savoury way to use the crab apples!

Crab Apple and Ginger Chutney
(adapted from Aarti Party, Food Network)

2 TB canola oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 pound crab apples, cored and diced
1 6″ piece ginger, cut into matchsticks
1/2 cup sugar
2 TB white wine vinegar
salt
pepper

Warm the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat.  Add cumin seeds and cook for 30 seconds.  Add the onions and cook until golden, 8 – 10 minutes.  Add the chili powder and stir constantly for 30 seconds.  Add the apples, ginger, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper and stir.  Cook until the sugar thickens and apples soften, about 15 minutes.

avocado milkshake

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Avocados and milkshake?  I know, a weird combination.  When I heard of it, I was skeptical.  I had a couple of avocados that were really ripe and needed to be used right away.  I was going to make my usual guacomole, but then our painter who was over, started talking about how wonderful avocado milkshake was.  I didn’t think it would be good, but I was up for an experiment.  Boy was I wrong!  This drink was delicious and Q couldn’t get enough.  Thanks J for the suggestion!

Avocado Milkshake

1 avocado
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup milkBlitz in a blender until combined.