Posts tagged pecans
Company Apple Crisp
0Their sugar-high is not MY problem…
I was charged with babysitting my nephews the other day and I couldn’t resist their little pleading faces when they asked me for dessert. I caught a glimpse of the bowl of apples in my periphereal and decided to make the “Company Apple Crisp” dish I’d found in my Cook’s Illustrated magazine. I recalled how simplistic and common the ingredient list appeared to be and knew I had those items but was still amazed that I did, in fact, have every single item with the exception of fresh lemon juice. 
I did, however, have a lime and that would HAVE to work….and it did.
Sorry, but site or no site, I was too tired to wash dishes after babysitting and definitely NOT for the SAME 2 little reasons I was so beat. Therefore, you’ll have to deal with the styrofoam bowls I used to serve this sweet treat. They’re not completely unsightly when you peek in on their contents. YUM-MEEEEE.
It may have been inconsiderate of me to give them the Apple Crisp JUST before turning them back over to their mom but all they know is that Auntie Zina is the fav (and if you truly know anything, you know that is a bold face lie).
INGREDIENTS
Topping:
3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 c pecans, chopped fine
3/4 c old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c (3 1/2 oz) packed brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 tea. table salt
8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
3 lbs. Golden Delicious apples (approx 7)
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 c apple cider
2 tea. juice from 1 lemon
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
DIRECTIONS
For the topping:
- Adjust rack to the middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.
- Combine flour, pecans, oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.
- Stir in butter until mix is thoroughly moistened and crumbly.
- Set aside.
For the filling:
- Toss apples, sugar and cinnamon together in large bowl; set aside.
- Bring cider to a simmer in a 12-inch oven-safe* skillet over medium heat.
- Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, approx. 5 minutes.
- Transfer reduced cider to bowl or liquid measuring cup; stir in lemon juice and set aside.
- Heat butter in now empty skillet over medium and cook stirring frequently, until apples begin to soften and become translucent, 12 to 14 minutes. (DO NOT FULLY COOK THE APPLES BECAUSE THEY STILL HAVE TO BAKE IN THE OVEN)
- Remove pan from heat and gently stir in cider and mix until apples are coated.
- Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks.
- Place skillet on a baking sheet and bake until fruit is tender and topping is deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Cool on wire rack until warm, at least 15 mins. and serve….preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
Simply Sinful Monkey Bread
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Everyone knows that I am not a baker (mostly in part because Greg hasn’t broken down and bought me the KitchenAid mixer I’ve been begging for since we met) but also in part because I am a little afraid and uneasy about my limited experience in the area. However, a coward I am not and the war on baking (no matter the number of taste-tester casualties) will be won! But instead of the front lines (for instance, a croquembouche ) I was thinking that starting as a recruiting agent (for instance, working with premade frozen dough) would be more suitable for me at the moment. Just my luck, I discovered Bridgford Parkerhouse Style rolls in the freezer section at Publix. This pre-made dough offered a 2 for 1 as you will see in an upcoming post for Rosemary Parkerhouse Rolls.
Anyway, we all also know I can be VERY random but the desire to make Monkey Bread (aka Coffee Cake) came from watching Queen Latifah’s “Beauty Shop” the other day. Needless to say, I was happy something I did made a lil bit of sense for once, lol. (I spoke on it a little bit in the previous post “Monkey Bread Eeeee!!!” ). Out of my realm, I did the very minimal as far as tweaking the recipe on the back of the package and cannot wait to incorporate a few changes after knowing how simple it can be. I’m learning yall!!! I might be ready for the front lines sooner than we all thought, hunh? lol
(Note: You need 3 hours (waiting for the dough to rise, not actual working))
INGREDIENTS:
1 package Bridgford Parkerhouse Rolls
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1- 1 1/2 c. roughly chopped pecans
1/2 c. melted butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 (3 3/4) oz. pkg. cook-n-serve butterscotch pudding mix
2 tea. ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a bundt pan (or a tube pan, etc).
In a small bowl, combine sugar, nuts and cinnamon. Set aside.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture on the bottom of the prepared pan.
Sprinkle pecans over this; set aside.
Dip each piece of dough (I didnt thaw them) in melted butter and roll in sugar mixture. Make sure that the dough is coated generously with sugar mixture.
Stack each piece of dough evenly in pan.
Top with remaining butter and sugar mixture.
**Let the dough rise in a warm (non-drafty place) until double in size or until the dough has risen to just under the top rim of the pan. Do not let it rise above rim!!!
(See note about rising dough below)
Place pan on a baking sheet and Bake for 30-40 minutes or until well browned.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before turning over onto a cake plate.
Serve warm and enjoy the gooey bread as you hear praise in the form of words like “cinnabun”, “oh my” and ”God-send” being lightly tossed around. : )
**I put the dough in a kitchen cabinet to allow it to rise because my kitchen is FREEZING and WINDY! LOL It worked! If after an hour and it doesn’t rise, move your bread!!!
Greg’s Bday Breakfast-Part 2 (Bananas Foster French Toast)
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I’ve made this recipe before and could not WAIT to make it for my family. For some reason, whenever I go home, I get really lazy and just love to let my mom take care of everything. However, since I was playing host this weekend, I KNEW this would be on the roster. Greg had reservations about the French Toast and the Shrimp and Grits meal combo but I knew they would appreciate it. We all consider ourselves FOODIES but since I am not in a great culinary city like Miami, I am charged with actually having to replicate the dishes I love….plus they can’t cook…shhhh.
Bananas Foster French Toast
(courtesy of Paula Deen)
Ingredients:
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons butter, divided
8 large croissants, halved
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup chopped pecans
6 ripe bananas, halved crosswise and lengthwise
1 teaspoon rum extract
Directions:
In a shallow dish, whisk together eggs, cream, and cinnamon. In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Dip 4 croissant halves in egg mixture to coat both sides. Using a fork, remove croissants from egg mixture, letting excess mixture drip off. Place croissant halves in hot skillet. Cook 2 to 3 minutes per side or until lightly browned. Repeat procedure with remaining butter and croissant halves. Set aside and keep warm.
In a large skillet, combine corn syrup, brown sugar, maple syrup and pecans. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes. Add banana halves and rum extract. Coat with the syrup mixture, and simmer 1 minute. Spoon over French toast. Serve immediately.
You can’t have ham without yams!
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This recipe comes to you by way of my boss. She makes this for our holiday party every year and it is ALWAYS a hit. I doctored it up a little with vanilla, cream and cinnamon to give a little more fierceness ; ) but it was still great as it was.
While doing the meal planning with my friends at work we discussed having mashed potatoes vs sweet potatoes and I was the only one to insist the lunacy of NOT HAVING YAMS with our ham!! I was really passionate about it and realized they were all looking at me like I was crazy, lol. But really, mashed potatoes? Come on….
Ingredients:
- 5 large mashed sweet potatoes (approximately 6 cups)
- 2 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 teas. Pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 heavy cream*
- 1 tea. cinnamon
- 1 tea. salt
- 1 cup melted butter
*you can definitely use all (1 ½ c.) milk if you don’t have cream.
Topping:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup flour
- 2/3 cup melted butter (salted)
- 2 cup chopped pecans (one 6 oz. bag.- try to get the pecan halves (instead of pre-chopped) and chop yourself. The closer they are to you cracking them open yourself, the fresher and better. And the lack of uniformity in the pieces gives the dish a real homemade feel in my opinion.)
Preparation:
Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Peel and mash. To the bowl with the mashed potatoes, add the beaten eggs, milk, cream, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, brown sugar and melted butter. Pour into a buttered casserole dish. In a separate bowl, mix the topping ingredients together and sprinkle over dish. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes, until hot and browned. (I ended up baking mine for an hour because of the depth of my pan (2 inches), so check it and make sure that it’s hot.)
NOTES: I am going to work on cooking for two, but in the meanwhile, this recipe can easily feed 12. Please halve it, lol. Literally, cut the measurements for the entire recipe in half. I have a conversion page in the works and will do my best to make them more suitable for a regular sized family and not the one I grew up in. : ) Additionally, baking the potatoes would have been better because I noticed that my boil water was reddish brown in the end and I was sad b/c I knew that I’d lost some of the good, natural, sweet potato flavor. (However, I did make the mistake of piercing one and it fell open so it could have just been the product of it not having it’s protective skin for the duration of the cooking)
YUMMY! THAT CRUST IS SICK!! No marshmallows needed, Donyale. I promise. ; )
Paula’s 5-layer bars
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Super Super Easy!!
I made these bars for my job the other day. I was watching Paula Deen and she made them and I was really amazed at how quickly and easily it was done. Literally, all you have to do is pour the ingredients into the dish and bake. THEY LOVED THEM!! AND ANOTHER PLUS (and perhaps the greatest) IS THAT IT WAS CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP! ENJOY!!!
Combine:
2 sticks of butter, melted (microwave at 50% power for a few minutes)
1 pack of graham crackers, crushed (I did it in a Ziploc bag)
Press into bottom of 9×9 pan (Can use a 13×9 as well but lessen cooking time)
Layer:
1 c. Butterscotch chips
2 c. Semi sweet chocolate chips
1 c. Pecan Halves, roughly chopped (I like varied sizes and jagged pieces)
1 c. Sweetened Coconut Flakes
Drizzle:
1 Can sweetened condensed milk
Bake:
350 degrees for 40 mins.
Serve:
Allow to cool because they will fall apart otherwise. Top with a little more coconut flakes (so people can know it’s in there and to add a little color. : )
