Apple Pie with Brown Sugar Streusel Topping

I was talking with my brother about what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday (which was a while ago now), and he came to the conclusion that he wanted pie. An apple pie. I've never made an apple pie before but of course I was up for the challenge, and a bit worried that my apple pie would not be awesome. Actually for the 2 days before I made the pie, I kept trying to lower his expectations of it so he would be happy with it no matter what. But as I smelled it baking, I broke and said okay that smells really amazing. And it was.

I didn't want to make a double crusted pie and thought that having a crumbley topping might be delicious. So I took a streusel recipe from The Essential Baker, and combined it with a crust and filling recipe from Bon Appétit. Everything was pretty easy to put together, and the pie was really good. I know I'll be using this recipe again and don't feel the need to search for a better one. I'm no expert on pie crusts, as I've only made a handful of them, but this one wasn't annoying to work with and was really tasty. The crust was kind of soft and very buttery but definitely solid enough to hold everything together.

If this sounds good, you might like:
Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake
Coconut Cream Pie
Raspberry & White Chocolate Pie
The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart

Apple Pie with Brown Sugar Streusel Topping
Adapted from Bon Appétit October 1998 & The Essential Baker

Edit March 22, 2011: I made this pie again recently and would recommend decreasing the sugar in the apples to 1/4 cup (from 1/2 cup). I've edited the recipe to reflect that.

For Crust
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 tablespoons (about) ice water

For Filling
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 3/4 pounds apples, peeled, quartered, cored, thinly sliced (5 Braeburn apples for me)
1 tbsp vanilla extract

For Streusel
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
5 tbsp (2.5 oz) unsalted butter, chilled

Make Crust:
Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter; cut in using on/off turns until butter is cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Add 3 tablespoons water and blend until moist clumps form, adding more water by tablespoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball. Flatten piece into disk; wrap in plastic. Chill at least 30 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

When you're ready to start putting it all together, position rack in bottom third of the oven and preheat to 375F.

Make Streusel:
Combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the dry ingredients. Pulse until the butter is cut into very small pieces, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Make Filling:
Combine sugar, flour and allspice in large bowl. Mix in apples, then vanilla extract.

Put It All Together:
Roll out dough disk on floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Spoon in apple filling, trying to make it relatively level so the streusel doesn't fall all over the place. Evenly sprinkle streusel topping over apples.

Bake pie until apples are tender and topping is light golden, about 45-50 minutes. Transfer to rack. Serve pie warm or at room temperature.

Onion Chutney: The Most Delicious Condiment That You Didn't Know You Were Missing

Even though Rebar is one of my super favourite cookbooks and I've made many things from it, I'm still discovering new recipes. Recipes that I passed by before because they didn't interest me, had an ingredient I wasn't too fond of, or had esoteric ingredients. Well I'm really glad that this recipe caught my eye this time around because I am so in love with the onion chutney, which is really the star of the sandwich.

The main recipe is for a different take on a grilled cheese sandwich - with aged white cheddar, green apple, Dijon (yum), watercress (though I just used the greens I had) and onion chutney. We ate it with roasted red potatoes tossed with fresh herbs, as you can see. The grilled cheese was good, but the onion chutney was better. It's so easy to make and so so so full of flavour. It's the perfect condiment. Add it to anything! An omelette, a tofu scramble, a sandwich, a quesadilla, a spoon. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of the onion chutney, but take my word for it - it is deliciously amazing. The flavour reminds me of this extremely unhealthy extremely tasty pan fried onion dip, but is obviously much better for you. And a side note, I honestly wonder how more people do not have the Rebar cookbook.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms in Mustard Wine Sauce
Pan Fried Onion Dip
Walnut and Mushroom Nut Roast
Sweet Potato Black Bean Salsa

Cheddar Chutney Grilled Cheese with Green Apple
Adapted from Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook

whole wheat bread
butter or margarine
aged white cheddar cheese
Dijon mustard
Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
lots and lots of onion chutney

Butter one side of each bread slice. On the unbuttered side of half of the slices, spread Dijon mustard and layer with chutney, apple slices, cheddar and greens. Top with remaining bread slices, butter side up. (It seems really ridiculous that I'm basically writing out a recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich... but since I'm at it, in order to keep the sandwich together and things from sliding out, try to disperse the cheese throughout the layers in the sandwich instead of just putting them between the apple and greens.)

Heat a pan over medium-low and cook sandwiches on both sides until the cheese is melted and the bread is crispy and golden.

Onion Chutney

2 tbsp butter
2 yellow onions, diced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red chile flakes
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp brown sugar
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Heat butter in a pan over medium heat and add onions. Saute until translucent. Add salt, chile flakes and coriander and continue to cook for 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook until the onions are very soft and creamy.

Applesauce-Oat Bran Muffins

I was really excited to see that my library had Veganomicon as I've seen many people posting recipes from it and have been curious. I've since bought the cookbook but have only tried out a few recipes from it so far. These delicious applesauce oat bran muffins are one of the recipes I've tried. I've made them many times, with modifications to make them healthier.

Which brings me to the Healthy Cooking event hosted by Fun and Food that I'm taking part in. The point behind this event is to gather vegetarian recipes (including baked goods) that are healthy, and I know I could definitely use some new healthy recipes! And a bonus is that a winner will be chosen and will receive a free healthy cookbook. What I did to make these muffins healthier is what I usually do with muffins - swap applesauce for oil (which works especially well in this recipe since it's an applesauce muffin!), omit the sugar, use whole grain flours, and add healthy nuts and dried fruit.

I changed the spices a bit (added more cinnamon and added some cloves) to simplify it rather than measuring out a tiny bit of a few different spices. So add whatever spice mixture you like to this (cloves, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice)! I've also tried making these muffins with combinations of flours with success, like a mix of whole wheat flour and amaranth flour. And of course switch out the raisins and pecans/walnuts for other favourite fruit and/or nut combinations. I haven't tried any yet because I'm really stuck on this version, but I bet chopped dried apples would be perfect. This is probably one of my favourite healthy muffin discoveries/creations!

Other muffins/loaves I've made:
Mini Pear Loaves
Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread
Pumpkin Pecan Raisin Muffins
Snickerdoodle Muffins

Applesauce-Oat Bran Muffins
Adapted from Veganomicon

Makes 12 muffins

3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup + 3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
2 tbsp sugar (optional)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or a combination of whole wheat flour and other flours, such as 1/2 cup amaranth flour and 1 cup whole wheat)
3/4 cup oat bran
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, whisk together the soy milk and apple cider vinegar; allow it to rest for 1 minute to curdle. Add the applesauce, and sugar (if using), and whisk to completely incorporate them.

In a separate smaller bowl, sift together the flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet; stir only to moisten and don't overmix. Fold in the raisins and pecans. Use an ice cream scoop or measuring cup to scoop the batter into muffin cups.

Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to complete cooling.

Soba Noodles with Zucchini Ribbons

I extremely love edamame. There was a time where I viewed them cautiously in all you can eat Japanese restaurants, but now I can sit and easily eat a bowl full, popping the beans out of their pods. And I love buying frozen shelled edamame to add to anything, including edamame hummus (which I've yet to make).

I love how this dish looks - the dark soba noodles contrasting with the green zucchini, edamame and green onion. (Soba noodles are usually made of buckwheat and can be found in Asian grocery stores.) As for the taste, it's something a bit different (in a good way) but the flavour could be punched up a bit. Make sure you have everything prepared before you start!

I'm sending this to Gay for Presto Pasta Nights.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Portabello Fettuccine with Spinach Pesto, Roasted Peppers & Romano Cheese
Balkan Roasted Vegetable Salad
Santa Fe Pasta Salad

Soba Noodles with Zucchini Ribbons
Modified from Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook

Makes 2 relatively small servings.

4 oz soba noodles
1 large zucchini
3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce, or to taste
3 tbsp mirin, or to taste
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup shelled edamame
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 green onion stalks, thinly sliced for garnish

Heat a pot of water over medium heat and when it is boiling, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain.*

Use a vegetable peeler, and carefully slice the zucchini into long, thin strips. Set aside. Combine the soy sauce, mirin and cornstarch in a bowl, and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Stir-fry the garlic for 30 seconds, and add the edamame, mushrooms, zucchini and soy mixture, and stir-fry for about 30 seconds more, or until the vegetables are heated through**. Remove from the heat.

To serve, put equal portions of the noodles in individual bowls or on plates, and spoon the vegetables and sauce over top. Garnish with scallions and serve.

*My package of soba noodles says to cook it for 6 minutes, but they're completely cooked after about 2.
**I used frozen edamame so I stir-fried for a few minutes until the edamame were hot.

Elvis Fluffernutter Cake

As soon as I saw this cake on Lynn's blog, I saved the recipe thinking I would make it for my stepdad at some point, as he is a big Elvis fan. Plus the cake sounded like something fun and a bit different (banana cake with chocolate chips sprinkled on top, peanut butter marshmallow filling, and peanut butter icing - all sprinkled with chopped peanut butter cups). Well when my stepdad's birthday came around, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and he said cheesecake with some kind of sauce. Yea I could've made that for him but what about the fluffernutter cake?? I told him about it but he said no I want the cheesecake. But then I sent him the link to Lynn's post and he changed his mind.

I didn't really like this cake, which is odd for me because usually I can find something I like about most things I bake. Everyone else on the other hand, loved it. Really loved it. Some people said it's their favourite cake I've made - even my mom who is against chocolate chips in banana bread and never eats peanut butter cups.

You can see in this picture my typical "stick all the frosting on top!" tactic. I really don't intend to do this but somehow it always happens. Must work on that.

I've started to put the cakes together a day or so before we eat them but the resulting cakes are drier. I know for some cakes (or maybe all cakes?) people say that if you let it sit for a day it will taste better because the flavours meld, but I'm not really convinced.

Other cakes I've made:
Caramel Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese White Chocolate Icing
Perfect Party Cake (Lemon, Raspberry, Coconut)

Elvis Fluffernutter Cake
From All Recipes then adapted by Foodaphilia and adapted again by Cookie Baker Lynn and by me

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 mashed bananas, about 1 cup
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Chopped up peanut butter cups for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans. Fit the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Grease and flour the whole pan.

2. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating just to combine. Stir in vanilla and mashed bananas.

4. Pour batter evenly between the two cake pans. Sprinkle the mini chips over the top of the batter. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

5. Let pans cool for 10 minutes on a rack. Carefully invert layers onto a plate, peel off the parchment paper, then carefully put back on the rack to finish cooling.

Frosting

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
1 cup of smooth peanut butter
4 cups of powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 cup marshmallow fluff

With an electric mixer cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time.

Place 1/3 of the frosting into a separate bowl and fold in the marshmallow fluff until completely incorporated.

Frost the top of the first layer with the marshmallow frosting. Top with the second layer. Frost with the rest of the frosting and sprinkle chopped peanut butter cups over the top, pressing them into the frosting slightly.