Recipe: Fruit Crumble by Crock-pot

We've had a lot of dinners and potlucks to go to this year. It's no surprise that for the latest potluck (a very happy birthday to our awesome coach, Sheri!!!), we found a really simple recipe that asks for very accessible ingredients and is really straight forward to make--well, almost.

INGREDIENTS
FRUIT BOTTOM:

• 6-8 apples or pears (6 cups or so)
• Lemon juice
• 1 cup dried fruit like raisins or cranberries
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

(here's where I start mixing things up Deb-style)

• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon*
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 2 pinches ground ginger
• dash of allspice
• Handful of chopped walnuts (or another nut like pecan)

CRUMBLE TOP:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter

(again, I start mixing things up a bit here)

• 1/4 cup rolled oats (quick cooking), plus an extra sprinkle more of oats for good measure
• 1/8 cup rolled rye
• 1/8 cup rolled spelt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon*
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 2 pinches ground ginger
• dash of allspice

*if you only have cinnamon, that's fine. It's the bare minimum spice the original recipe calls for

EQUIPMENT

1. Slow-cooker/crockpot
2. Large mixing bowl (crumble)
3. Paring knife
4. Peeler
5. Cutting board
6. 2 butter knives or pastry cutter

I took the base recipe from here, and revised it since it's more cooking than baking so I don't have to be as accurate! We made the dish twice; once with pears and the most recent, with apples. I have little experience cooking/baking with fruit, so for the pears, I picked two types: a brown (not Bosc) and a green anjou (I think). With apples, I did a quick search and saw that the more tart/sour apples are best for cooking/desserts; I selected granny smith and macintosh.

Red and green for the season

We peeled the fruit in advance; I did a rough peel because I am a big advocate for eating as much of the food as possible to ensure you get all the micronutrients--which are often found just under the skin. I sprinkled lemon juice over the cut fruit and lightly tossed and put away in the fridge until I was ready to start. The original recipe asks for 6 cups of fruit but does it really matter? As long as I covered the bottom of the crock pot by half, I figured I was good. Then, I added the raisins and spices.

Delicious fruit bottom

Next, mix the fruit until the spices evenly coat the apples and add a sprinkle of raisins on top along with the walnuts; otherwise the small nuts and fruits end up only on the bottom of the mix.

Fruit 'n nuts

Plug your crock pot in and turn it on to a high setting for 30 minutes. Go on to make the crumbly top, by combining all the dry ingredients throughly by ensuring the brown sugar clumps are broken and then cutting the butter into the dry mix.

Cut in that cold butter!

Disclaimer: we had no idea how to "cut in butter" and did it totally wrong and should have checked before attempting it based on our own understanding of what it meant. All I knew was that the butter should be small (how small? I dunno!) pieces in the mix but what exact that looked like... I hadn't the foggiest. And of course +ADW has limited experience with baking so knew less than I did. But both of us were too stubborn to look it up. Combined, we created a melty-greasy-doughy mass. Don't let this happen to you and ensure the butter stays nice and cold and rest it in the freezer/fridge if needed. That said though, our mess didn't ruin things.

Not too bad considering we got it wrong...

When the mix is "crumbly", evenly spread over the fruit in the crock pot and spread a tea towel under the lid to catch the moisture. Slow cook on "low" for 3 hours more, or until the fruit is tender. If you are in a rush and only get in 2 hours, fret not! Bring it with you and continue cooking at your destination and leave it on "warm" when it's done. If you're serving right when it's done, wait 10 minutes and let everything "stand".

Delicious and ready!

The best part? Service warm with vanilla ice cream.

Thanksgiving Mash-up Recipe

I spent the summer getting and eating the lovely greens of the garden and now is the time when we start seeing the robust root vegetables and squash. As the weather cools, I'm reminded of the Thanksgiving dinners my mom put together for us as kids. One of the most memorable dishes she makes is a butternut squash mash. To this day, Thanksgiving dinners aren't quite complete without it and this is the first year I'm having to do these types of things on my own. I thought to share the recipe!

These are not exact measurements and it's more about putting together proportions of the ingredients you enjoy.

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 small/medium butternut squash
2. 4-6 carrots
3. 5-7 small red potatoes (or other potato)
4. 1 white small/medium onion
5. 1-2 cloves of garlic
6. 1/4 cup unsalted butter
7. 150g cheddar cheese
8. Salt to taste
9. Black pepper to taste
10. Granulated garlic powder (1/2 tsp or to taste)
11. Ginger powder (1/4 tsp or to taste)
12. Nutmeg (1/4 tsp or to taste)

DIRECTIONS

Haul from the farmers' market

1. Gather the fresh ingredients and start cleaning them of dirt and blemishes/eyes/etc and peeling the carrots and potatoes. Note: I chose not to peel the potatoes unless there is a blemish or eye so I could keep the fibre-y bits. Keep in mind that often the best nutrients are found in or just beneath the skins so you won't want to let those go to waste (and it's good for your colon)! You'll also need a large (~6 quart) crockpot, water and your stove.

Cutting the squash can be precarious so be careful!

2. The tricky part will be to get your butternut squash peeled, opened and cleaned. Tip: I laid it on its side with the 'bulb' in my weaker hand and sliced off the stem. Then I inserted the tip of the knife into the columnar portion of the squash, lengthwise, and pushed the knife down towards the top. Once the cut is made (doesn't have to be all the way through), I pull the knife out and stand the squash upright and then take the knife and drop it into the cut and bring the knife right down to the 'bulb' and am able to slide it right open. From there, the peeler has a "grip" where I cut the stem off and I peel from top down.

Carrots, garlic, potatoes and onion

3. Then I cut everything into smaller pieces for quicker cooking and easier mashing. Note that carrots generally take the longest to cook so I cut smaller pieces and the onion cooks the fastest. At this time, I have not yet cut the butternut squash because that cooks the fastest.

Boiling phase 1

4. Add the ingredients to the crockpot and add water just until it starts covering the ingredients. Cover the crockpot and turn it on high heat to get boiling.

During this time, get the butternut squash ready by cutting it into smaller pieces to be cooked.

Cook on medium-high for ~10-15 minutes or until you can push a fork into the potato and carrot with resistance.

5. Add the butternut squash pieces and add some more water to the point where the water is halfway up the squash layer.

6. Boil for about 10-15 minutes more or until the fork easily slides into the butternut squash. At this point, you're ready to drain the pot and you can either chose to keep the broth for something else (it's great to drink if you've got a cold as its full of vitamin C and other water soluble vitamins/minerals) or dump it.

7. Grab your fork or potato masher and add in the butter and cheese. Slice the cheese into pieces so for easier melting. Mash vigourously. Include the salt, pepper and other spices as you are tiring out and mix well. Tip: if you aren't sure about the spices, take a small portion out into a bowl and play with the proportions there to see what you like. My proportions are for a full pot based on me fiddling around with a recent batch but your tastes and portions will be different than mine.

I got so excited to taste and run out the door with it (I was taking it to a pot-luck), I didn't get an image but the image doesn't do much justice to how it tastes so nothing lost there. But if you're looking to get some colour into your diet and mix things up for Thanksgiving, check this out and make it in place of your mashed potatoes!

Let me know if you get a chance to include it in your Thanksgiving menu this year and how you enjoyed it!

What the Heck to Do... part 1

... with all those crab apples!?

When +ADW and I bought this house, we didn't know what we were getting in terms of garden and yard flora. I knew that there are two cherry trees that blossomed in two different colours (spliced with a white branch on a pink tree) but I wasn't entirely certain about what else was on the property. I soon found out that I have a really cute little crab apple tree that is very hard working as far as a tree goes.

In the spring, I saw all these wonderful flowers and thought absolutely nothing other than "awwww look how pretty that tree is!" I'm a biology graduate... I should honestly know better: flowers lead to fruits! DUH. The cute little tree is now over-burdened with pink-purple-red fruits about 1.5 inches. I have no idea what to do with these things!! Ariel enjoys eating them, but isn't allowed to eat too many. My parents (who live across the street--yes, it's an 'Everybody Loves Raymond' thing) like eating them but again, only eat a handful every now and again.

As typical owners of crab apple trees think, what the devil am I going to do with all these apples?? I looked up some recipes to see what I could do... and they range from easy to a pain in the butt. I decided to try the easiest approach, slow roasting these babies with cinnamon.

You'll need the following supplies:

• Crab apples
• Oil for high heat
• Ground cinnamon

Then you follow the directions...

1. Wash apples and leave stem etc, intact
2. Lay them in a low walled baking sheet to dry
3. Pre-heat oven to 300F
4. Drizzle/coat the apples with an oil good for high heat
5. Hand mix the apples to coat with oil
6. Sprinkle ground cinnamon and again, hand mix
7. Pop them into the oven
8. Roast for 1.5 hours or until the apples look wrinkly or have split skins. I'd pull one out to test after the 1 hour mark. Also, you'll note that depending on the size of the apples, the time might change.

Unexpected bonus: the entire house just smelled of apples and cinnamon. That lovely aroma alone is reason enough to do this!

Glossy apples ready to jump into the oven!

Sprinkling on the cinnamon

Slow roasted crab apples!

I was chatting with my neighbour and they said I could have them with a pork roast (savoury) or drizzle maple syrup on them and have them like that, or add ice cream! I tried a few without and then with maple syrup. They are quite tart! It's a bit of a pain to avoid the core but not THAT troublesome. I will probably be making some more (since the tree hasn't stopped) this weekend and have these ones with pork chops or something.

Quick and Easy: Pizza

I have been shopping at the local farmers' market lately and I found this gluten-free round from Molly B. The suggestions include breakfast rounds and personal pizzas. I don't lead a gluten-free lifestyle (I love bread so much!) but I do try to avoid eating too much, so sometimes I'll get something "gluten-free", just to mix it up.

The instructions are SUPER easy and best of all, no defrosting needed.

1. Pre-heat oven to 400-450F
2. Put the frozen round on a cookie sheet
3. Spread tomato/pizza sauce on each round
4. Vegetables: I used, green peppers, red onions (lots!), garlic, tomato. You can add quite a bit if the round is not flimsy
5. Fresh cracked pepper and oregano (or basil)
6. Meat: 3-4 slices of spicy capicola, porcheta and sopresetta 
7. Cheese: I had gotten sliced Finlandia Lappi cheese lying around so I used that

Pre-oven pizzas

Then I popped the whole she-bang into the oven for 10 minutes or until toppings are bubbly.

Finished product--'zza!!

The finished product was way better than I expected!! I will use more cheese next time and maybe even more toppings... I"m going to see what I should do, to "max it out" without falling apart :D