Harvest Latkes and Spiced Date Apple Sauce

At the risk of offending some of the Microsoft engineers in my life, I sometimes think working with Microsoft Office is much like my husband. It is pretty much a part of my life, and on most days it works,  some days it completely drives me crazy and other days, it totally surprises me with its multidimensional possibilities. 

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A fall kind of dish

Most people who know me, know my love for fall, I love the colors, the nip in the air, the apples, the pears and the soft rustle of fall leaves under my feet. It is the only time of the year, I am not quite so excited about the rain, not that I do not like to see the vivid colors against the sombre skies on a rainy day, or like to simmer my favorite stew on a cool dark day, the rain takes the crunch of the leaves away.

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Apple Crisp with almond meal

Yes! Apple season is here. Today is a lovely fall day, in this neck of the woods. There is a nip in the air, beautiful sunshine and the orange is just begining to peek out from the leaves.
I do not often make dessert, simply because when I do, I ending being the person finishing it. Last week was my husband's birthday so I used this excuse for some indulgence.

I whipped up a fairly healthy apple crisp and of course served it warm with lots of vanilla ice-cream making sure the calories balanced out the healthy factor. Apples are of course a great fruit, this apple crist actually leaves the skin on, since we tend to give away a lot of the goodness with the skin.

The interesting ingredient here was almonds that are one of nature's most nutritious gifts. True they do have a decent amount of fat, but the kind loaded with omega-3 making them really good for children. Lately, I have been working with Almond meal from Trader Joe's trying to stretch the boundaries to see where I can sneak this in.

Apple Crisp with Almond Meal

Serves 6 people

Ingredients

6-8 apples cored and cut into small pieces (I used NY gala and Granny smith)
2 limes
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp ground cinamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup sliced blanched almonds

Method of Preparation

1. Squeeze the lime juice, over the apples and set aside.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, grease a casserole and place the apples in this.
3. Mix in the honey, cinamon and nutmeg onto the apples.
4. Mix the sugar, butter, oats and almond meal in a separate bowl and pour over the apples.
5. Bake for 20 minutes - the kitchen should smell rather nice by now.
6. Top with the sliced almonds and cook for 10 more minutes.
7. Remove from the heat and let this sit for 10 minutes.
8. Serve hot with ice-cream or sorbet.

This entry goes out to Myriam of Once Upon a Tart, which is just the blog to visit if you you have a sweet tooth.

So,

An Apple a day

I am not a particular fan of apples in general, but the granny smith is an exception. Its tart crisp texture gives it an amazing versatility.

Well I tried to find out a little more about it and discovered that they get their name from their original cultivator a Marie Ann Smith.

They do not brown as easily as other apples, hence they are great for salads, Like the one I am writing about.

Apple-Spinach Salad with red onions

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 granny smith apples peeled and sliced

1 tsp black salt

10 oz baby spinach leaves

2 eggs hard-boiled and sliced

1/2 cup wine-vinegar onions with some of soaking liquid

3 slices bacon cooked till crisp and crumbled (optional)

Method of preparation.

1. Mix the black salt with the apple and let this sit for 10 minutes.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

3. Eat with bread or alone.

This weeks WHB is being hosted by Sue and Coffee and Cornbread. Thanks for hosting!

Sweet and Spicy Apple Buttnernut Rasam

This soup like many other creations in my kitchen started as a dish for my little ones, however after tasting this, I felt the flavors had potential to do more that provide good nutrition, they could grow up. A little bit of this and that produced an interesting rasam.

A traditional rasam is plentiful in tomatoes and a fairly thin soup. My variation is thicker than the typical broth but still thin enough to pass muster.

Sweet and Spicy Apple Butternut Rasam

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

2 granny smith apples

2 cups of butternut squash peeled and cubed

4 tomatoes finely chopped

1/2 cup brocolli slaw (optional)

3 tbsp toor dal (pigeon peas)

2 tsp salt

2 cups vegetable broth

1.5 tbsp rasam masala

1 tbsp ghee

1.5 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/3 cup yogurt

1/4 cup cream

4 tbsp chopped cilantro

2 limes juiced

Method of Preparation

1. Peel the apples and cut into chunks.

2.Place with squash, brocolli slaw, dal, tomatoes, broth, salt and rasam masala, into a pressure cooker and cook for 10 minutes and cool for 5 minutes. Alternately, simmer for 45 minutes on a a low flame till all the ingredients are very soft and pureed.

3. Beat the mixture till smooth with a wisk and add 2 cups of water and check for the salt.

4. Heat the ghee and add the cumin and mustard seed. When the seeds start to crackle add this to the lentil mixture and bring to a boil.

5. Let this simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Remove from the heat.

7. Beat the yogurt and cream together till very smooth and gently stir into the soup.

8. Top with the cilantro and lime juice.

9. Serve in individual bowls either over rice and alone.