Apple Dumplings

Apple dumplings fresh out of the oven

We had these apple dumplings when we ate supper at my mother-in-law's one night.  We loved them so much that I asked for a recipe. Surprisingly, it was easy to make, using ready-made dough.  I made it the very next day at home. Hubby was even surprised to find that orange juice makes a good flavor combination with apples!

Oranges and apples combination is surprisingly good!

Ingredients:
2 cortland apples, peeled, cored and cut into quarters (to come up with 8 wedges)
1 tube of crescent rolls, divided into 8 parts (cut along the perforations)
1 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Instructions:
Boil together in a small saucepan the butter, orange juice and sugar.
Pre-heat oven to 350 deg F.
Wrap each apple wedge with the dough, place on a deep 9x9 baking dish.
Pour the mixture on top. Sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon.
Bake for 45 minutes.

It looks so unappealing, and yet...

My first piece

The apple wedges are practically melted by this time! It's like a citrusy applesauce.

Apple Crisp

One time, after baking two apple pies, I still had extra apples and I was kinda getting tired of making pies, so I searched for another apple recipe, and apple crisp was suggested by my older son, as they sometimes have this at school and likes it. I liked it too when I tried the outcome of the recipe below that I lifted from joyofbaking.com, although it was mainly the topping that I copied. The filling I prepared as I usually do for my apple pie . Hubby liked it as well, especially served while warm, with vanilla ice cream.


Ingredients:
Topping:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Filling:
8 pcs of apples (I used Cortland) peeled, cored and sliced thinly
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Procedure:


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter or spray with a cooking spray, a 9 x 9 inch baking dish. Set aside.

For Topping: Place all the topping ingredients (flour, sugars, spices, butter, oats, and nuts) in a food processor and process until the mixture is crumbly (looks like coarse meal) and there are no large pieces of butter visible. (This can also be done with two knives or your fingertips.) Set aside while you prepare the filling.

For Filling: Place the apple slices in a large bowl. Toss with the lemon juice and the rest of the ingredients. Transfer to your prepared baking dish. Spread the topping evenly over the apples.

Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat before serving.
Makes 4 servings

Beef Pares with an Apple Twist

From 10-06-08 dinner

I used the Beef Pares recipe, and added carrots and ginger (per comment of one who tried adding these to my recipe), then instead of using frozen beef broth to top the chuck roast (to avoid drying it up), I used half of the apples I usually use for an apple pie, mixed with the usual spices cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ground cloves.



When cooked, I placed the apples in a bowl first and mashed with a fork. Then I strained the sauce (separating the spaces and carrots in the process), then thickened and finalized the gravy the usual way. Then I mixed some of the gravy with the mashed apples, tasted it and adjusted by adding some soy sauce as needed. The resulting applesauce was yummmmmylicious! Hubby liked it as well! (He usually does not use the sauce of beef pares; he likes savoring the flavor infused in the meat itself.)

Then we had very little leftover. At first I was considering making beef asado roll but since I did not have enough meat mixed with remaining applesauce, I decided to use it for fried rice (I had plenty of gravy remaining, perfect for flavoring the rice!)

Apple Pie

Using the pie crust recipe and method that I posted about earlier, I now ventured into making my second apple pie, this time, using Cortland apples (not McIntosh, which were too sour for me). According to food journalist and cookbook author Mark Bittman, the best apples for baking are Cortland or Ida Redor Paula Red (Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2003).



I used this recipe that my friend bingbing gave to me but eliminating the lemon juice, as I was apprehensive that the result might be too sour again.



Then upon friends at WK's suggestion of adding cardamom, and seeing a recipe at AllRecipes.com, I added 1/8 of allspice.



Then there was also the French apple pie that used a Streusel topping instead of a pie crust (I forgot where I got it. I just used the google search). I did that but still used a pie crust to top the Streusel topping.



It turned out to be the "Perfect Apple Pie" for my hubby, me, and my kids. (But I admit I still favor the Buko Pie in Laguna. Probably only because apple pie is not one that I grew up with.)



So here's the recipe (See Pie Crust post first and prepare crust-lined pie plate before preparing the filling):



Ingredients:



7-8 cups thinly sliced peeled baking apples

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cardamom

1/8 tsp allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt



Streusel topping (you may want to forget about the pie crust topping and have this instead)

1/3 c brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter



Eggwash (1 egg + 1 tbsp sugar, beaten)



Instructions:



Peel, core and slice the apples thinly. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom; add to apples and toss.



Pour into crust; Prepare Streusel topping by mixing brown sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkling on top of the apples.



Dot with butter (I used the peeler. You may use grater for this purpose).



Put on top the second pie crust; cut slits on top. Brush eggwash over pastry.



Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 degrees bake 40-45 mins. or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.



(TIP: Place enough sheets of wax paper to cover bottom of the oven to catch overflowing juices. This will spare you the trouble of cleaning afterwards.)



Cool on a wire rack.



Eat when comfortably warm.



(I actually liked it better when it was cooled down and has sat in the fridge overnight. Not only is the pie firmer to cut without gooey juices flowing to the sides, the apple slices have also imbibed the flavors of the spices more.



My first apple pie made with McIntosh was too sour. A friend in WK, sognaluna (an American wife to a Filipino) suggested I eat the pie with vanilla ice cream. I tried, and even ate it with additional maple syrup, but the sourness was still too much for me. And when I noticed it was only me eating the rest of the pie (after the initial tasting by the other family members), I threw the last two big slices (1/4 of the whole pie). That night my hubby asked where the apple pie was, because he noticed that I had in the fridge the Jello no-bake cheesecake that he loves, I told him I threw the apple pie because nobody wanted it anyway.



"I like it...It's just that I have not been feeling too well in the past days. It would keep for a month..." I just shrugged, thinking..."yeah, right..."



Well, this time with Cortland, we easily consumed the pie, even without ice cream or maple syrup. Though I am foreseeing bags of Golden Delicious and Red Delicious apples, they are so good that we can eat them as is. No need to bake. Cortland is actually good enough to eat raw. Pretty much tastes like the apples that were sold at 3 for P20 in the Philippine Markets (if you bought them fresh), but not as good as Fuji apples.