Raise your hand if you have an over abundance of apples right now. I thought so! There are many things I want to do with my apples; make apple challah, apple sauce, apple cake, and an apple slab pie. Well, 1 out of 4 isn’t so bad now, is it?
This past summer I made a cherry slab pie and it was so good. I shared it with my friends and, without tooting my own horn, we are still talking about it. So, why not an apple slab pie? The pastry from the cherry slab pie was near perfect. I made another batch of the dough and then simply switched out the fruit. Apples cook differently than cherries, so I adapted the filling from a recipe from The Cook’s Country Cookbook
Slab pies are great for a crowd. And this pie fed a huge crowd. It was demolished in about 15 minutes. I had one teeny tiny bite. That teeny tiny bite was really good. ;I am going to make this many times over throughout out the next few months. Next time I will pair my apples with some fresh pomegranate seeds!
I first heard of quinoa many years ago from a friend who was diagnosed with wheat sensitivity. Quinoa, which is the seed of a flowering plant, is related to spinach and beets. It is not a grain, but is treated like one in recipes. It is suitable for those who suffer from celiac disease and maintain a gluten-free diet. The pseudocereal, as it is officially termed, originates from the Andean region of South America. It was considered sacred in Incan society, second in importance to the potato, and followed by corn. The Spanish conquistadors disliked quinoa, suppressed its production, and it never gained popularity outside of South America.
Sometimes lettuce is just not good enough. With its peppery spiciness, arugula has a refreshing bite. In Southern California, even though it gets cold in the Winter, arugula thrives in the year-round sunshine, so we're able to buy fat bunches any time of the year for $1.00/bunch.
Autumn begins this week, a season that is celebrated for the
bounties of late summer and of the harvest. And for many the season is
best represented by baking. Bread, pies, and tarts have become
synonymous with the season of change. Baking with fall fruit such as
apples, pears, plums, and quinces are a perfect way to celebrate. For me
the fruit that best represents fall is the pear. Even though most pear
varieties are picked unripe during the summer, the fruit can last in
cold storage all throughout autumn and winter. If picked ripe, the pear
is mushy, but when allowed to ripen on the counter or in a paper bag, a
pear can be the most flavorful fruit. Some criticize it for its grainy
texture, but I appreciate it for that uniqueness. The perfume of a
ripening pear is like no other fruit. With pears in mind, I decided to
put together one of my favorite tarts.
Pumpkin is one of my favorite ingredients, especially during the fall months. This is a great cake for friends with October/November birthdays (like me!) 