Tag Archives: Apples

October 26, 2013 · 11:17 AM

{ Kendall’s Bourbon Spiked Cider }

Nothing says fall quite like apple cider, and this bourbon-spiked cocktail will have you appreciating cider in a whole new way. It is light but warms you from the inside out.

If you happen to live in Bucks County, PA and like Bourbon-based cocktails, I would suggest checking out M.O.M.s on Main Street in Doylestown. They have a fantastic selection of bourbon inspired cocktails, which is why they are my favorite spot right now. I would also recommend heading over to Solebury Orchards to pick get some of their seasonal honey crisp apples and homemade cider! It is the absolute best!

{ Ingredients }

3/4 cup apple cider (I get mine locally from Solebury Orchards)
1/3 cup bourbon (I used Maker’s Mark)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 thin slices of fresh peeled ginger
2 thin slices of apple for garnish

{ To Make Cocktail }

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the cider, bourbon, lemon juice, and ginger. Shake well to combine. Strain cocktail into 2 coupes. Garnish with apple slices.

I also like mine on the rocks with crushed ice!

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Filed under Bars, Buck's County, Cocktails, Gluten Free, Recipes

Tagged as Apple Cider, Apples, Bourbon, Bourbon and Cider, Bourbon Cocktails, Cocktail Recipes, Cocktails, Drink Recipes, Fall Cocktails, Fall Drinks, Ginger, Happy Hour, Hard Cider, Honey Crisp Apples, Lemon Juice, Maker's Mark, Peeled Ginger, Recipes, Solebury Orchards, Spiked Cider, Thanksgiving Cocktails, Thanksgiving Drinks

August 18, 2013 · 12:40 AM

Sparkling Pomegranate Red Sangria *****

Sangria is one of those drinks that reminds me of summer. It is a light and refreshing beverage to be enjoyed outside on a patio somewhere, and preferably with some good Mexican fare!

I tend to gravitate to red sangria over it’s fruitier white counterparts, because I am not the biggest fan of peach schnapps or flavored brandy. This being said, I also don’t like red sangria that tastes like spiked fruit juice (which is the case at 90% of the bars/restaurants I’ve ordered it from!). You end up drinking like 10 glasses of it in an effort to catch a buzz, only to get a sugar high that is generally followed by a massive migraine the following morning….not to mention the 800 calories you’ve also consumed. No thank you.

So tonight, I was on a mission to create my own unique sangria recipe that would taste delicious and also have my friends on their asses after only two glasses. I am proud to say “mission accomplished” with this one-of-a-kind sparkling pomegranate red sangria, which is without doubt the best sangria that I have ever tasted (my friends would second that statement too!).

The trick is to allow the flavors to develop overnight, by making the sangria ahead of time. I also like to use a merlot wine as the base of the sangria because it is a dry wine but has natural hints of berries, plums, and currants, which lend themselves well to the other fruity flavors, especially the pomegranate spritzer used to top off the beverage before serving!

{ Ingredients }

1 L bottle of merlot wine
1 cup of brandy
½ cup of triple sec
2 oranges, juiced
1 apple, chopped
1 orange, chopped
½ cup chopped pineapple bits (I used fresh cut pineapple)
1/2 cup fresh blueberries or blackberries
Sparkling Pomegranate Juice (I purchased mine from Trader Joes for $2.49)

{ To Make the Sangria }

In a mixing bowl, combine the chopped fruit, brandy, triple sec, and orange juice. Cover and allow to soak for 2 hours.

Add the wine to the mixture and allow to sit over night in the fridge. To serve, fill a glass with ice, fill ¾ with the sangria, and top off with a splash of sparkling pomegranate juice. Stir to combine.

{ Curry Roasted Calabaza with Apples & Honey }

If you think that grocery shopping in the Unites States is annoying and tedious, then you would not believe what it takes in Argentina. It is an all day, sometimes doble day process, that requires one to visit multiple verdulerias (veggie markets), canicerias (meat markets), fruterias (fruit markets), and superchinos (the adopted name for small Korean-owned markets, which clutter the city). There is no such thing as one-stop shopping in Buenos Aires, and finding even the most basic ingredients (i.e. black beans, peanut butter, jalapeños, ect…) can often be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. As a result, my culinary skills were contsantly put to the challenge as I was continuously forced to rethink many of my weeknight dinners and side dishes. Given that there is absolutely NO shortage of calabaza in the city of Buenos Aires (calabaza = Spanish pumpkin), I decided to start incorporating it into my meals to simplify my shopping experience. It very quickly became a grocery staple, right up there along with bread, butter, and eggs.

One of my favorite ways to prepare calabaza is to simply roast it with a seasoning of olive oil, salt, pepper but then one night I decided to add a sprinkling of Indian curry into the mix and it turned out amazing. The next time I prepared the dish, it evolved even further when I added chopped granny smith apples to the roasting pan halfway through baking. The apple cubes compliment the spice of the curry and add the skins provide a little texture to contrast the smooth butteriness of the pumpkin. Drizzle a little honey on top after everything has roasted and viola….deliciousness!

This has undoubtably become one of my favorite side dishes (served either hot or cold), and I even like to eat it as a main dish over white rice.

{ Ingredients }

3 cups calabaza, chopped into 1″ cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1-2 teaspoons curry, depending on your taste
1 cup green apple, chopped into 1/2″ cubes
Honey, optional for finishing

{ To Prepare } Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare you calabaza, cutting it into 1″ cubes. You can either clean down your own calabaza, or use pre-packaged ones cleaned by the store (as I have shown below).

Place into a large mixing bowl and add olive oil, curry, salt, and pepper, tossing with your hands to coat. Arrange the calabaza on a baking sheet in a single layer and put in oven. NOTE: Make sure to turn over calabaza with a spatula every 3-4 minutes, to ensure even cooking!

While the calabza is cooking, prepare your 1/2″ apple cubes. Add the apples to the baking sheet 10 minutes into the baking process, and return to oven.

Continue to bake for additional 5-10 minutes until the pumpkin is tender and the apple is golden.

Remove from oven, drizzle with 1-2 teaspoons of honey, adjust seasonings, and serve!

{ Brushetta with Prosciutto, Ricotta, Apples, & Olives }

Before almost every meal at my house, I find that there are a few moments where everyone gathers around the kitchen center island, anxiously waiting for dinner to finish cooking. The table has already been set, but the meat may need to rest another minute before carving, or the sauce may have to reduce a bit more before serving. It is during this time that I like to “pre-game” for dinner (confessions of a fat girl) with an appetizer–and bruschetta is always at the top of my list! I steal a few slices of baguette from the bread basket, toast ’em in the oven or on the grill, and then top them off with any and every thing that I can find in the fridge.

This week, my little sister Ella, turned me onto a new layering of ingredients and flavors, which included; sliced granny smith apples, creamy ricotta cheese, chopped kalamata olives, and thinly sliced prosciutto. Not going to lie, I had some reservations about these particular food combinations at first, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the sweet and salty contrast of the prosciutto and ricotta. The slightly tart bite of apple also added another unexpected dimension to the plate, and was a refreshing palate cleanser in-between toasts.

If I were to serve this at a party (which I certainly will in the future!), I would allow the guests to create their own toasts by serving the ingredients separately, this way everyone can have exactly the toppings they want. The dish is so simple and relatively inexpensive (cost of ingredients averaging $10 for 6 servings), but it very important that you use quality ingredients–high grade (or homemade) ricotta is a MUST! (I suggest Wegman’s brand for $3.00). I also suggest that you season the ricotta with a nice drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper before serving it…it adds more umph–and looks pretty!

{ Ingredients }

1 baguette, sliced on diagonal, 1″ thickness
2 cups high quality (or homemade) ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
2 granny smith apples, thinly sliced
4-6 ounces of thinly sliced prosciutto

{ To Make the Bruschetta Toasts } Use a silicon brush to coat the sliced baguettes with extra virgin olive oil. Place them on the grill, turning until well toasted on each side (about 3 minutes per side). NOTE: You can also toast the bread in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees, which takes about 5 minutes.

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Tagged as Appetizer, Appetizers, Apples, Bread, Bruschetta, Cheese, Italian, Italian Food, Olives, Party Food, Prosciutto, Proscuitto, Recipe, Recipes, Ricotta, Small Plates, Starter, Starters, Tapas, Toasts

September 25, 2011 · 1:36 PM

{ Cinnamon Apple & Brie Toasts }

Bruschetta is one of my favorite small plates to enjoy before dinner, but every now and then I like a break from the plain old garlic and tomato. It’s not exactly dinner-date friendly, and it’s getting a little overdone as far as I’m concerned. So this evening I decided to make a sweet bruschetta with oven-roasted cinnamon apples, honey, and baked brie cheese. It was absolutely delicious and it is a super versatile recipe. I used it is as a small plate for dinner, but I would also suggest serving it for breakfast, brunch, or as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. To cut back on the sweetness, use less honey, or omit it all together. Remember, the brie cheese releases oil when baked, so don’t worry about the toasts being too dry!

{ Ingredients }

1 french baguette, sliced down on a diagonal (1/2″ thick)
2 honey crisp apples, sliced 1/4″ thick
A chunk of brie cheese, sliced into rectangles (1/4″ thick)
Ground cinnamon to taste
Honey for drizzling

{ To Roast the Apples } Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay the sliced apples in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet and dust with a covering of ground cinnamon. (If you want, you can omit the honey later, and dust the apples with brown sugar here to create the sweetness!). Bake for 5-8 minutes and remove from oven.

{ To Assemble the Toasts } On another foil lined baking sheet, arrange the sliced baguettes side by side. Top the bread with a slice of roasted apple, a cut of brie cheese, and then another slice of roasted apple. Drizzle the top with a little bit of honey and repeat until all the toasts have been assembled. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until the cheese has become soft and gooey (about 4-5 minutes). Remove from the oven and serve!