Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

So, I was making my grocery list for hosting Christmas this weekend via this website.  I didn’t realize I hadn’t posted this much requested recipe.  Here it is!  Great for holiday gatherings, bridal/baby showers, etc.  So good!

2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and diced
8 oz rasberries (I’ve used frozen)
1 pound strawberries
2 tbspn white sugar
1 tbspn brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor (I’ve used all different, really whatever I have here at home)
10 10-inch tortillas
Butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups cinnamon sugar

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar, and fruit preserves.  Cover and chill in fridge at least 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350.  Coat one side of each tortilla with cooking spray.  Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet.  Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar.  Spray again with cooking spray.  Bake in oven 8 – 10 minutes.  Serve with fruit salsa!

Robin’s Famous Apple Dip

Thanks for stopping by from BooMama’s DipTacular 11!

My friend Robin brought this to my house last weekend and I’m not joking when I say that the plate was licked clean.

1 cup powdered sugar
1 brick cream cheese
caramel ice cream topping
Heath bits
mini chocolate chips
sliced apples (put them in a bowl and pour some Sprite over the top of them, letting them sit for a minute or so. Then put them in your serving bowl, and they won’t brown, and they won’t be bitter from lemon juice!)

Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar together and spread on a plate. Cover with caramel topping (whatever looks good). Sprinkle on Heath and chocolate chips and serve with sliced apples. Watch it disappear!

Pan-Fried Pork Chops with Apples

My SIL Heidi sent this to me when I requested apple recipes a while back, and I just got around to trying this last night. It was sooo good. It does take a little while to prepare (think 30-40 minutes or so) so it’s not ideal for a weeknight but doable.

2 T firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 T plus 1 tsp kosher salt (I just used sea salt from my grinder)
1 T chopped fresh rosemary (or whatever you have – I only had fresh parsley which is virtually flavor-free, so I’ll get rosemary next time)
4 thin-cut pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick each – if you don’t get the thin cut ones, pound them flat – you’ll be sorry if you don’t)
1 T bacon grease (or butter or oil)
2 small to medium red apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup apricot jam, preferably fruit sweetened
1/4 cup calados or brandy (uh, we don’t have this – I used cooking sherry. White wine would also be fine.)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine brown sugar, salt and rosemary in a small bowl and stir together. Coat the THIN pork chops on both sides with the mixture, gently massaging the meat with your fingers to jump-start the curing process. Let stand for 15 min. Rinse the chops and pat dry with paper towels. Season chops with pepper.

Melt the bacon grease in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, add chops, and cook until crispy brown, about 3 minutes on each side. NOTE: mine were pretty dark and I was worried that they were going to taste burnt but it wasn’t a problem at all! Next time, when I pound them flat enough, they won’t have to cook as long.

Transfer the chops to a plate and cover with foil. Add the apples to the skillet and cook, stirring gently to brown slightly, about 30 seconds, adding a bit more bacon grease if the pan is dry. Add the stock, jam, sherry, and cinnamon and stir well. Cook until the sauce thickens and is rich brown in color, about 10 minutes.

Uncover the chops and top with the glazed apples.

SO, the sauce didn’t thicken, but that wasn’t a big problem; we just used it more like a glaze. The kids ALL ate pork without the sauce and apples, which was fine with me. We’ve got a new favorite!

Help Wanted – Apples!

Ok, people, I have a hundred tons of apples to use up quickly before they go bad. No one is complaining, yet, about apple slices at every lunch, but I don’t have long before that will be here.

I already have tons of applesauce that I canned this summer, so that isn’t really a good option.

So please – leave some ideas in the comments about some creative ways to use apples!

Thanks 🙂

Caramel Apple Pie II

I’ve eaten this once before. Kelli brought it to our house for dinner once 2 years ago. I decided to make it with the tons of apples we have here (all we have are golden delicious from our trip to the orchard; I should have probably reduced the sugar in this recipe due to using these instead of something a bit more tart). Still, it is so, so good.

Another note: the golden delicious apples I used are a lot juicer than, say, a Granny Smith. Which means that there is a lot of liquid in the baked pie. So either up the flour when you use this kind of apple, or just use Granny Smiths.

And, I just looked on the blog and realized that Sonya has a Caramel Apple Pie recipe, too, but it’s different than this one! Now I’ll have to try hers, too!

2-9 inch pie crusts (I used pre-made Pillsbury)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups thinly sliced & peeled apples (I used half Granny Smith & half Jonathan)
2/3 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
20 caramels, halved (or about 6 oz of the caramel bits)
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375.

To Make Taffy: In a small bowl combine brown sugar, melted butter or margarine, and 1/3 cup flour. Mix well and set aside.

To Make Apple Filling: Place apples in a large bowl. Add white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Toss until all ingredients are mixed well and apples are thoroughly coated. Refrain from eating the apples like that…they will look tasty, but you need them for the pie.

Spoon half of apple filling into pastry-lined deep-dish pan. Top with half of caramels and half of taffy mixture. Repeat process with remaining apple filling, caramels and taffy mixture. Place top pastry over filling and seal well (this is very important–if edges are not sealed, caramel will leak out all over). Cut steam vents and brush top crust with milk.

Cover pie with foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil from pie and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until crust is golden.

Cobblestone Apple Crisp

I’ve made this recipe for several years…it came from Dierbergs, and it’s become a fall favorite! Even though it’s baked in a 9×9 pan, it makes a lot, so it’s best to make this when you have company OR when you’re ok with eating tons of apple dessert yourself. Whatever. Also excellent ala mode!

Two things: 1. this is truly more apple cobbler than crisp. And, 2. it takes about 25 minutes to prep this, but it’s totally worth it. Trust me.

6 apples, cored, peeled and sliced thinly (approx 6 cups)
1 Tbl lemon juice (I just use bottled)
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbl cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (divided)
1/2 cup Heath English toffee baking bits (not chocolate-covered)
2 Tbl sugar
1 refrigerated pie crust, torn or cut into 1/2″ pieces (I think it’s easier to cut them with a pizza cutter on the cutting board)

IN large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. In small bowl, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, and 1 tsp of the cinnamon; toss with apples until well-blended. Spread into a buttered 9×9″ baking dish. In medium bowl, mix toffee bits, sugar and remaining 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Add pie crush pieces and toss to mix. Resist urge to eat sugary pie crust dough. Sprinkle over apples. Bake in 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until top is brown and juices bubble. Serve warm. (and with ice cream, if you want!)

**I have sometimes had this burn on top a bit. If you notice it start to get too dark on top, throw some foil loosely over the top while it finishes baking.

Caramel Apple Pie

I made this for our Christmas dinner this year.  I’ve only made it one other time so it was a much requested item for Christmas.  My mother-n-law actually said, “I really think this is the best apple pie I have ever had.”  Maybe you’ll like it too!

2 large jonathan apples
2 large fuji apples
1 granny smith apple

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 unbaked pie crust

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup flour
1 stick butter
caramel ice cream topping

Dice the apples.  Yes, I said dice.  We prefer them this way versus just slicing them really thin.  Mix together the apples, sugar, 3 T flour, cinnamon, and salt.  Pour into an unbaked pie crust.

Combine brown sugar, oats, 1/2 cup of flour, and butter.  Mix until crumbly.  Sprinkle the coarse crumbs onto the pie filling.

Line the top edge of the pie crust with foil and bake at 400 for 25 – 30 minutes (25 for me).  Remove the foil and bake an additional 30 minutes.  Drizzle the caramel topping over the top of the pie while it’s still warm (but not too hot or it will just pour off onto aluminum foil that you placed under the pie, not that that’s happened to me or anything!).

*Both times I have made this, the top of the pie started to burn (I think from the crumbly butter).  We didn’t seem to notice because of all the caramel.  BUT, the next time I make this, I’m going to put the oven rack as low as it will go and hope that will help.

Taffy Apple Dip

This is a recipe from a good friend of my mom’s. I’ve made this for LOTS of parties and I always end up giving out the recipe to at least one person.  It’s AWESOME….but, dangerous.  If you have it just lying around in your fridge, you are bound to eat it all yourself (not that that’s happened to me or anything).  Yummy.

8oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 jar smuckers caramel topping
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped peanuts (or ice cream topping nuts which I love)

Mix together the first four ingredients until smooth.  Add nuts last just before serving.  Serve with sliced apples.