Easy Apple Crisp

We went to a fantastic new restaurant (Perla's on South Congress) recently on the basis of having a gift card. We normally wouldn't gravitate toward a seafood restaurant, but really enjoyed what we ate. Travis courageously ordered a baked whole fish, and I got an amazing white fish (I think it was halibut) in a tomato-based broth. We started with tuna tartare in the spirit of ordering things at a restaurant that we don't know how to cook at home(or, not cook, I guess).

Anyway, at the end of the meal, the waiter brought the dessert menu. Looking at a dessert menu normally involves finding the option that has the most synonyms for "chocolate" in the title. Travis like all kinds of desserts, but I typically abide by a strict chocolate-only policy. But, this time, for a reason that I still cannot explain, the thing that looked best to me was a blueberry tart. Travis, still skeptical, decided to go along with my temporary chocolate lapse and order the thing. I think it was what he wanted anyway.

This thing was incredible. I seriously could eat it every day of my life. It was a blueberry tart a la mode with perfect crust, topped with slivered almonds and powdered sugar. In that moment, I became determined to make it at home.

Which resulted in this.


Not quite what I was going for.

This easy (emphasis on easy) apple crisp was my solution to reassembling the shattered pieces of my cooking self esteem from the blueberry tart incident. It is easy, delicious, and crowd pleasing, and I actually like it! I kid you not, this is the first apple dessert I have ever liked. I think that blueberry tart (the Perla's version) changed me for good.


And speaking of being a changed person, go ahead and try the Pioneer Woman's easy caramel sauce as a topping. Homegirl knows what she is doing when it comes to things that involve half and half and sugar.



Easy Apple Crisp
Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook, 14th Edition

I served with this caramel sauce from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. And I had to use all of my self control to not drink the sauce by itself.

Ingredients
5 cups sliced apples (approximately 5 medium apples)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel and slice apples and coat with granulated sugar. Place apples in a layer no more than two or three deep in a baking dish. (I split mine into two smaller dishes, but a larger 9x13 inch dish would also work.)

To make the topping, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, and spices in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter (or your fingers) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over the apples.

Bake for 35 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping is golden. Serve with caramel sauce, whipped cream, or ice cream.

Mishaps

I realize that I haven't posted here in a while. Do forgive me. Between working on stuff for Get Trained at the Austin Stone and going on a diet for about eight days, my cooking has been quite boring. On the diet, it was salads, rice, beans, and more salads. Off the diet, let's just say we have been eating a lot of turkey sandwiches and frozen pizza at my house. I'm a flip flopper.

In the meantime, I have been absolutely dying to try and share some recipes and techniques from this little guy that Travis got me for Christmas:


I finally got the time and the energy to make some potatoes au gratin this weekend, and so I whipped out my favorite Le Creuset ceramic baking dish and my mandoline slicer and was having at it.

And then.

And then.

Julia told me to put my baking dish on the stove before putting it in the oven. But she didn't tell me that you aren't supposed to put ceramic baking dishes over direct heat or they snap in half. And mine definitely did. I couldn't bring myself to take a picture because it was so sad, but my favorite baking dish literally snapped and there was milk and cheese running all over my stove. It was a ghastly scene.

Julia, aren't you supposed to warn us idiot American housewives about these things? Isn't that why you are who you are, because you save us from our own ignorance? How can I trust you again?

Ok, over reaction. But I really liked that dish.

Luckily my birthday was Wednesday, and Travis not only replaced my baking dish but got me two others of smaller sizes. And I fully intend to use them this weekend for the good of this blog. It may be savory, it may be sweet, but it definitely won't be on the diet. Stay tuned.

Adventures in Cooking: A Trip to the ER and Why I Started this Blog

A couple of weeks ago, on a Tuesday night, I cut my finger on a tin can and had to go to the emergency room to get four stitches.

After I cut myself, in a state of more annoyance than anything else, I had to call Travis to come and take me to the ER. When he walked in the door from work, one of the first things out of his mouth was, "what on earth are you making?"

The answer to the question: I was making a lot of things. I had a red sauce for pasta in the sauce pan. There was a soup in the works, involving, as it were, a can of stewed tomatoes with a very sharp lid. I also had shredded a rotisserie chicken for a to-be-determined dish for later in the week. And various elements of all of these dishes were scattered in mid-preparation throughout my kitchen.

This scene, minus the blood and gore, is a common one in my house. I love trying new recipes, often many at the same time, and I get a big kick out of learning how to cook. And, like virtually everyone else that starts a food-related blog, I am starting this site as a way to share my recipes - and my injuries - with any fellow wannabe foodies who might be interested.

Now, I realize that there are a lot of people out there for whom reading a food blog is a more of a chore than a hobby. If this is true of you, I hope that you can use this site as a place to find recipes that work the first time, aren't too fussy, taste good, and are worth making again.