Dessert Recipes

Crispy Salted Oatmeal Cookies

Preparation: 

1 cup flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
14 Tablespoons butter, slightly softened
1 c sugar
1/4 c packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 t vanilla
2-1/2 c old-fashioned oats
6 oz. toasted Missouri pecans
flaky sea salt (Maldon or fleur de sel) for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking shet with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder baking soda and table salt in a medium bowl.

2. Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat til incorporated. Add flour mixture gradually and mix til just incorporated and smooth. Gradually add oats and nuts. Mix until well incorporated.

3. Roll 1 to 2 tablespoons of dough between palms into balls, then placed on lined baking sheets. Gently flatten each ball slightly.

4. Sprinkle each cookie with a few grains of sea salt.

5. Bake until cookies aere deep golden brown, about 13-16 minutes. Transfer parchment to wire rack to cool.

Black Walnut Applesauce Cake

Preparation: 

1 pkg. black walnuts
1/2 c. butter
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. applesauce
1/2 c. raisins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, beating until light. Sift together dry
ingredients; add to creamed mixture. Blend in applesauce, raisins and nuts. Turn into greased and floured 13 x 9 x 2
inch pan. Bake 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool in pan..
Grated Turnip, Sweet Potato
and Apples
Adapted from Carrboromarket.com
These three fruits and veggies enhance one
another’s flavors, and they all like butter.
1 medium large sweet potato
4 medium-sized turnips
2 medium apples
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup coarsley chopped pecans or walnuts
Salt and pepper to taste
Peel the turnips and the sweet potato.
Peel (if desired) and core the apples. Coarsely grate each, keeping them in separate piles. In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat
and add the sweet potatoes. Toss to coat with butter and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the turnips and toss with the sweet potatoes,
sautéing for 3 minutes. Add the apples and continue sautéing until the turnips and sweet potatoes have lost their raw crunch, but are
not mushy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with your favorite meat (or Match meat) loaf. Or serve cold as a salad, by tossing
with your favorite vinegar and a little extra virgin olive oil. Chill and correct the seasonings before serving. Serves 4

Caramel Sauce

Preparation: 

from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody (original
recipe from Baking: From My Home To Yours, by
Dorie Greenspan, Houghton Mifflin 2006)
Christmas Apple Cake
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
3/4 c. grated, peeled apples
1/2 c. rum
3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. boiling water
1 c. raisins
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs,
beating after each egg. Add apples, rum, pumpkin pie
spice, salt, and vanilla. Beat well. Pour boiling water
over raisins and let set. Mix flour and baking soda into
apple mixture. Add raisins and juice. Add nuts. Bake in
10"x15" pan or in muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 35
to 50 minutes depending upon size of pan.
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1-1/2 tbsp light corn syrup
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room
temperature
Put the sugar, water and corn syrup
in a medium heavy bottomed
saucepan, stir just to combine the
ingredients and then put the pan
over medium-high heat. Heat,
without stirring , until the
caramel turns deep amber., 5-10
minutes. Lower the heat a bit
and, standing back from the
saucepan add the cream and
butter. When the spatters are
less vehement, stir to calm down
the caramel and dissolve any
lumps.

Christmas Apple Cake

Preparation: 

1 c. butter, softened
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
3/4 c. grated, peeled apples
1/2 c. rum
3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. boiling water
1 c. raisins
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs,
beating after each egg. Add apples, rum, pumpkin pie
spice, salt, and vanilla. Beat well. Pour boiling water
over raisins and let set. Mix flour and baking soda into
apple mixture. Add raisins and juice. Add nuts. Bake in
10"x15" pan or in muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 35
to 50 minutes depending upon size of pan.

Apple Crisp

Preparation: 

6-8 apples

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

2 teaspoons lemon juice

 

For Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cups chopped nuts 

 

Peel, core and slice apples. Add sugar, cinnamon, cloves and lemon juice. Mix well and turn into buttered baking dish. Crumble together sugar, flour, salt and butter. Mix in nuts and top apples with mixture. Bake at 375F for about 45 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings. Sometimes I use brown sugar instead of white sugar. You can put it all into a pie shell to bake as well.

Garlic Confit

Preparation: 

new book, A Cook’s Journey: Slow Food in the Heartland. Chef Kurt’s expedition across the
midwest includes recipes and tidbits that higlight the wonderful food diversity available in our
region. The following recipe from the book looked especially enticing, as garlic is not just a
flavoring agent but a vegetable in its own right, in my book.

Garlic Confit
1 cup whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 pint extra virgen olive oil
1 pint grapeseed oil
Place the garlic, bay leaf and rosemary in the bottom of a 3-quart saucepan. Add both oils and place the pan over medium heat. Stir the mixture occasionally. After about 15 minutes, the oil will begin to boil lightly. Adjust the heat and watch carefully because if it boils over a nasty fire could result; that’s why we use a 3-quart pan for the 3-pint recipe.
When the cloves turn lightly brown after about 30 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool completely. The garlic will cook a little further, and that’s a good thing.
After it is cool enough to handle, strain the cloves from the oil. Discard the rosemary and bay leaf, and store the confit in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to one week. Reserve the oil for cooking. Makes 2 pints garlic flavored oil and 3/4 c.up confit.

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