Recipe Friday: Cran-Apple Crumble

It is cranberry and apple season! The cool blustery winds are coming in, the leaves are turning, and fall is in the air.

Cran-Apple Crumble is a seasonal dessert just right for potlucks, or for nibbling in the house. Have it with some coffee any time.

The flours and sweeteners mentioned are the healthy version; however, you can use white sugar, white flour, and brown sugar in this recipe.

As with many recipes, the amounts listed are suggestions: you can go crazy with cranberries, apples, oats, and sweeteners as you like. Customize this as you will; I like to add a bunch of cinnamon and nutmeg. 🤤

Ingredients:

3 cups                  peeled and chopped tart apples

2 cups                  fresh or frozen cranberries

¾ cup                   sucanat, coconut palm sugar, honey, or maple syrup

3 tablespoons     whole grain oat, barley, or wheat flour

                              Topping:

1 1/2 cups           quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup                 whole grain oat, barley, or wheat flour

1/2 cup                 coconut palm sugar

1/2 cup                 butter, melted

Directions:

In a medium-large bowl, combine apples, cranberries, sweetener, and flour. Pour into a greased 11×7-in. baking dish.

In a bowl, mix topping ingredients until crumbly; sprinkle over apple mixture. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until fruit is tender.

Recipe Friday: Easy Apple Pie-ish

I had the apples

I had the spices

I had the pie dough

I had the appliances.

 

I had the time

I had the space

I had the oven,

I had the place.

 

I had all I needed

Except the ambition

So here is the –ish part

Of my creation.

Ingredients:

• 2 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into wedges
• 1 prepared pie crust dough, thawed
• Sucanat (or sugar, or brown sugar)
• Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice
• Butter (about 2 tablespoons), shredded or cut into itty-bitty pieces

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Spread dough out flat onto a rimmed baking sheet.
• Arrange apple slices onto dough.
• Sprinkle with sugar and sprinkle with spices.
• Sprinkle with butter pieces.
• Bake 35 minutes, until crust is golden.
• To serve: Tear off portions and eat by hand; or slice and serve on plates. Ice cream might be good with it. Or maybe cheese.

To my surprise, this was SO GOOD!

Recipe Friday: Baked Pork Chop Dinner

Serves: 2

I made this when we were both not feeling well. Cooking over a hot stove sounded detestable, but we had already got the pork chops out, so…
While napping before dinner, I had a vision of this, and it turned out spendidly.

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 90 min

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons (give or take) olive oil

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

2 medium-thick pork chops

1 medium onion, sliced thinly

2 medium apples, peeled and sliced

salt, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.
Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of a 9×11″ baking pan.
Spread cut sweet potatoes over the bottom of the pan. Drizzle more olive oil, and salt.
Place the two pork chops on top of the sweet potatoes. (We had some large, thick pork chops, but this recipe will work fine with pork steaks, or chops a bit smaller. If you’re using thin pork chops, you may need to adjust the baking time.) (At this point, I sprinkled some seasoned salt on top of the chops.)
Spread the onions over the tops of the chops, then the apples slices on top. Drizzle more olive oil over all, and salt.
Cover the pan tightly with foil. Poke 5 or 6 slits in the foil.
Bake for 90 minutes. After one hour, remove the foil and put back into the oven to bake another 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven, and allow to rest for 5 – 10 minutes before plating.