What a Thanksgiving

Sorry this post is so late. Things have been crazy around my way with school and all the cooking that took place around the holidays. For my birthday I had a few friends over and cooked a great meal that included a turkey with the usual, (mashers, cranberry sauce, ect. ) chorizo cornbread stuffing, roasted carrots (pictured), awesome sweet potato fries courtesy of Mrs. Ina Garten, (more on those later) and a ton of desserts. The meal was great but as usual, the sweet portion of the meal is what draws my attention.

I'll start from the top:

Apple Oatmeal Cookie Crisp: It was a huge hit and quite possible the favorite of the crowd. This recipe can be found via the search on my blog.

Pumpkin Flan - This dish is like a pumpkin pie but 10 times richer and no crust. I loved it.

Chocolate Covered Poached Pears- I had to salvage a minor accident on this one..but they were soo good. The link will take you to gourmet's recipe for a poached pear tart. Simply poach the pears according to the recipe and then once they are cooled, dip them in melted dark chocolate and refrigerate.

Smores Pie- This was straight chocolate with home made marshmallow on top. Awesome.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Now that the holidays are drawing near, look for more post and school slows down.

Test 01 of Unknown: Caramel Pudding

Feeling ambitious, I wanted to see if I could in fact 'invent my own pudding.' I quote that phrase because Adam at the Armature Gourmet (here) attempted this very same feat, which is scary, because he knows what he is doing and I on the other hand....not so much. 

The only idea I had was to use my awesome caramel sauce recipe to flavor a basic pudding base, who's recipe I found from Elise. Using this concept, I came up with a nice pudding with great flavor and a smooth texture. I hope you give it a go and enjoy it!

Caramel Pudding

-adapted from 'Chocolate Pudding'

For the Caramel:

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. water

3/4 c. heavy cream

Heat the sugar and water over high heat until deep amber. Take off the heat and carefully stir in the cream. Bring back to a boil then allow to cool.

For the Pudding:

1/4 c. sugar

4 Tbs. Corn starch [you might need more depending on how think you would like it]

Pinch of Salt

2 c. whole milk

One egg, beaten

Combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a medium pot. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil. Stir in cooled caramel and remove from the heat. Temper a small about of the cream mixture into the egg, followed by the remainder of the cream. Whisk until smooth, divide into ramekins, and allow to cool. 

Home in the Kitchen: Apple Cookie Crisp

I'm not sure if this has been done before. If it has, I'm sorry. 

My sister loves apple crisp, and I wanted to put my own spin on the old time classic. After scouring the Internet for a oatmeal cookie recipe that A) I had all the ingredients for and B) was easy, I decided I would smother my simply apple mix with a crunchy cookie top. 

Most of the crisps I have eaten or made in the past have had a nice topping, but it is usually not consistent or super crunchy. I wanted to for go the topping, and go straight for a 'top.' I figured a nice cookie would yield that crunchy bite I was looking for. Excited about the prospect of a new discovery, I set off to find a cookie recipe that would work. Most oatmeal cookies have tons of goodies in them, (its like new thing now, I think) but for my topping I wanted only two things to make the crunch happen: Oats and granola. 

Below is the recipe for my version of apple crisp with a crunch cookie top and simple simple apples underneath. Enjoy.

Apple Cookie Crisp

For the top:

-adapted from Food Network Kitchens

1 c AP flour 

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 c. room temp. butter (1.5 sticks)

1/2 c. sugar 

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. rolled oats (not instant)

1 c. granola (any type or brand you like)

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. 

Beat white sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Mix in brown sugar. Add eggs in one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla. Once wet ingredients are well combined, slowly add the dry ingredients on to the wet. Once homogeneous, stir in oats and granola. Chill batter for at least 30 min. for best results

For the apples:

Cut 3 to 4 large peeled apples into slices. Squeeze the juice of one half of a lemon over the apples, followed by 1/2 c of sugar, 2 tbs. of brown sugar and 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon. Make sure all of the slices are well coated and place them in the bottom of a baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. After 20 minutes, remove from oven and spread cookie dough over the apples. Return to oven and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 for a harder crust.