Apple Pie Bars

These are, dare I say, better than apple pie! Very simple to make and easy to eat. All you need is:

400 degree oven, 9x13 dish (I lined mine with foil for easy cleanup)

Roll out pie dough using flour so it doesn’t stick and line the pan. I cut off the sides and added to the ends to go from circle to rectangle. Crimp the sides. Basically this shell will bake as is.
For filling:
3 large apples, peeled and chopped. Put these in a large bowl and toss with 1/2 squeezed lemon (optional). Add 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour and apple pie spice. I just used a large dash of cinnamon, some ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Pour over crust and top with 2 tablespoons of bits of butter. Bake for 40 minutes until nice and brown, checking after 30 to make sure it’s not burning.

Taster approved!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Made this from a Home Chef meal kit, it was so good I’d make it again! And next time try a chocolate ganache topping like we had on the pumpkin cheesecake at Thanksgiving.

8oz bar of cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick (2oz) butter, melted
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
8” pie dish
4oz Greek yogurt
3fl oz liquid egg (2 large eggs minus 1Tb or 6Tb)
3oz light brown sugar (6Tb)
2oz canned pumpkin
1 Tb pumpkin pie spice (4 parts cinnamon, 2 ginger, 1 cloves, 1/2 nutmeg)

Combine graham crumbs and butter, spread into baking dish using a cup (a measuring glass used to melt the butter) to press down and push up the sides a bit. Place dish in fridge to chill while making the filling.
Preheat oven to 350.
Using a blender or food processor, combine the remaining ingredients, adding a pinch of salt. Blend on high until smooth and light, 2-4 minutes.
Pour batter into crust and bake 25-35 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes then refrigerate 2 hours. We didn’t wait and it was yummy warm! Taster approved.

Cranberry Brie Bites

YIELD: 24

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tube crescent dough
• Cooking spray, for pan
• Flour, for rolling out dough
• 8 oz. wheel Brie
• 1 c. whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1/2 c. chopped pecans
• 6 sprigs of rosemary, cut into 1" pieces.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375° and grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface, roll out crescent dough, and pinch seams together. Cut into 24 squares. Place squares into muffin tin slots.
2. Cut brie into small pieces and place inside the crescent dough. Top with a spoonful of cranberry sauce, some chopped pecans, and one little sprig of rosemary.
3. Bake until the crescent is golden, about 15 minutes.
4. Serve warm.
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Kale, Avocado, Apple, Wild Rice and Pomegranate Salad

Made this a couple days ago and as you can see, it keeps pretty well for a leftovers lunch!
Inspired by a salad I got from B. Good, I simply replicated it. Their salad includes thick-cut pieces of bacon which is yummy! I left that out but of course you can add that -or- as I tried today at work, falafel! The falafel works great. This could also be a satisfying side at Thanksgiving or for turkey leftovers.

1 bunch of kale, washed and torn into bite-size pieces, into a large bowl.
dressing for kale: a light drizzle of olive oil and cider vinegar, salt & pepper
After dressing, use your hands to blend it into the kale, squeezing it a bit so it absorbs and tenderizes. The kale will turn a bright green.

Squeeze half a lemon into a cereal-bowl size of water. As you chop the apple, then avocado, this prevents it from browning.

1 chopped apple of your choice. I went with an Empire. Crispy and tart, not too sweet.
1 pomegranate, seeded (you only need half the seeds). Watch a YouTube tutorial if you've never seeded a pomegranate. The trick is cutting it open properly thus not destroying the seeds in the process.
1 avocado, chopped into same size pieces as apple. 
dried cranberries (1/2 cup)
sunflower seeds (1/2 cup)
wild rice (the variety I bought took 55 minutes to prepare) (1 cup)
2 stalks of snipped scallion greens

Toss it up and enjoy!

Red Curry Ginger Squash Soup

This is great to freeze and reheat! I’ve been enjoying it for light lunches lately- microwave for 5 minutes. I found freezing them in coffee cups super handy rather than the plastic container. 

You can use any squash, I made this a couple times using a kabocha squash and a butternut. You could even save time and buy the squash precut. 

2 Tb unsalted butter (or olive oil for vegan version)

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 Tb peeled and finely chopped ginger

1 Tb Thai red curry paste  

1 1/2 pounds squash, peeled and cut into 2” pieces

1 stalk lemongrass

One 13.5 ounce can coconut milk

2 makrut lime leaves or zest of 2 limes

2 Tb fresh squeezed lime juice, more to taste

1 Tb sugar, more to taste

2 tsp kosher salt, more to taste 

In a large stock pot (too large for regular but good if doubling the recipe) melt butter over medium heat and cook the onions and ginger 4-5 minutes to soften. Add the curry paste and cook a minute, until fragrant.

Add the squash and 2 cups of water and cook until mushy, about 15 minutes. 

Peel off the outer leaves of lemongrass, chop off the very bottom and top third and discard. Split the bottom third lengthwise and add to soup along with the coconut milk and lime leaves. Simmer for 30 minutes. Fish out the lime leaves and lemongrass and discard. Season with lime juice, sugar and salt. 

Purée the soup using a stick blender, blender or food processor. Pass soup through a strainer (not necessary but will find some bits of ginger).

Can be made up to 4 days in advance or frozen up to 2 weeks. 

Surf and Turf Black Pepper Udon Noodles

Adapted from the lovely new cookbook I’ve been enjoying, Myers + Chang At Home: Recipes from the beloved Boston eatery. The only thing I changed was using udon instead of Shanghai style noodles (Twin Marquis brand)/or linguine. Leftovers were good for lunch. I did make a smaller, almost halved recipe. 

Blueberry Cornmeal Cake

Made with frozen blueberries. Work quickly to fill the pan (s), the better stiffens up quickly after adding them! I used 9x5 and 2x5 pans, lined with parchment and cooking spray. The small pan took 45min, larger was more like an hour. It's a tender, fluffy cake, so good! Don't forget the lemon zest with the butter and eggs.

• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), room temp
• 1 cup sugar (200 g)
• 1 cup flour (125 g)
• 1/2 cup cornmeal (60 g)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/3 cup sour cream (80 g)
• 2 cups blueberries (190 g)
• Streusel topping
• 1/2 cup sugar (100 g)
• 6 tablespoons flour (45 g)
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal (15 g)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces (55 g)

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add eggs and vanilla to butter mixture. Mix in 1/3 flour mixture, 1/2 sour cream, 1/3 flour mixture, remaining sour cream. To the remaining 1/3 flour mixture, fold in blueberries.Hand fold into the batter. Pour into a buttered and floured 8" square pan. Make streusel: Mix dry ingredients together. incorporate butter bits until mixture becomes sandy in texture. Sprinkle over batter and bake about 40 to 45 minutes.

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