garlicky broccoli slaw

Posted on September 18, 2013 by lovettlovett

Last week I awoke to a bountiful produce delivery from From the Farmer on my doorstep. For any friends in the DC area, I couldn’t recommend From the Farmer more highly – they deliver fresh produce to your doorstep weekly. I love it because of the flexibility of From the Farmer vs. traditional CSAs or produce delivery services. I can suspend my deliveries if I know I’m traveling and won’t have time to put my produce to good use! This week my bin overflowed with peaches, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, baby eggplants, beets, broccoli, apples and more. I wanted a fresh and hearty salad, so whipped up this garlicky broccoli slaw with beets, apples, and almonds.

For the salad:
Three heads of broccoli
Two beets, peeled and diced
Two apples, skin on and diced
1/3 cup sliced raw almonds

For the dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
juice from half of one lemon
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Start by roughly chopping your broccoli so it’s small enough to fit through the tube of your food processor. I used my the slicing disc attachment on my food processor to thinly slice the broccoli, but you could also use a mandolin or just roughly chop with a big chef’s knife.

Peel your beets and dice into bite-sized pieces. Dice your apple into similar sized cubes. In a large bowl combine broccoli, beets, and apples.

Add your almonds.

Next, make your dressing in the bowl of a food processor by combining garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over all ingredients and toss to combine.

Serve as a side or enjoy all on its own as a salad!

xo,
julia

apple bundt cake

Posted on April 22, 2013 by lovettlovett

I know this recipe might have been better saved for the fall, but ever since Boston Boy and I peeled and chopped dozens and dozens and dozens of apples for applesauce at Miriam’s Kitchen I’ve been craving a sweet, cinnamon apple treat. I volunteered to bake dessert for a dinner party our esteemed Ragnar captain, LatinThunder hosted this weekend and this bundt cake is a convenient and easily-transportable (read: won’t Cake Wreck tossed into a bag and hanging from the handles of my bicycle).

Gather the following:

Your favorite baking spray
2 cups flour
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1⁄4 tsp. salt
1⁄2 cup butter
1⁄2 cup applesauce
3 eggs
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (I used Fugi)
1/2 cup raisins (not pictured, these were a game time addition!)

I started by making a half batch of Liz’s yummy applesauce. The rest is a glorified dump cake. You need one bowl, a stirring utensil, and you’ll be golden delicious (couldn’t pass up the opportunity for an apple pun!). In a large bowl, melt butter in the butter melter (read: microwave). Stir in sugar.

Add your eggs.

Then your cinnamon.

Then your applesauce.

Then your fresh apples.

Then your raisins (I might also recommend pecans or walnuts if you have any handy!).

Then your dry ingredients.

Mix it all up, and then pour into a well sprayed (or buttered and floured) bundt pan.

Cook at 350 for about 40 minutes (or in my case a little over half of Denise Austin’s yoga tape – streaming on Amazon Instant thankuverrymuch!). Let your cake thoroughly cool before wiggling around the edges with a knife.

Say a little prayer and hope she comes out easy! Thankfully my bundt came right out. Slice & serve! The cake’s delish and makes a great simple dessert that won’t leave you sugar-rushing, side-split, buckled over lamenting whoever initiated the fairy tale that there’s “always room for dessert”, but it’d also make a great breakfast! If you’re looking for a little more presentation and want to glam this cake up a bit – I recommend (in increasing level of difficulty) either a) sifting powdered sugar on top, b) whipping up a quick powdered sugar glaze, or c) getting fancy and making a caramel/dulce de leche sauce to drizzle on top. Get creative!

You’re the apple of my eye!

Julia

basics: homemade applesauce

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Liz Eggleston

Happy Hanukkah, everyone!

I’m sure all of my fellow shiksahs in the kitchen can agree that the holidays can be a doozy. As much as you love to cook, you’ll never shine a light to the recipe that has been passed down by tough critics. I’ve made my fair share of high-holiday-hiccups (starting with a milchigs fork mix-up and ending with bringing a butter-laden bread pudding to Thanksgiving) but this applesauce is not one of them. It’s the perfect way to preserve your apples and requires only two added ingredients. And during Hanukkah, you won’t find a better topping for your potato latkes.

You’ll need: (for 2 cups applesauce)
4 apples, mixed
1 tbs honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup water

We used Red Macintosh and Pink Lady apples for this recipe. You can use whichever are in season (the farmer’s market usually has enough apple samples out to give you a tummy ache), but I recommend a mix of apples to elevate the depth of flavors. Start by peeling your apples roughly (a little apple skin never hurt anyone) and chopping them into cubes. Add them to a saucepan with the water over medium heat, until they’re just simmering.

Add the cinnamon and honey and stir. In the past, I’ve used white sugar for the sweetness in my applesauce, but switched to honey because, well, apples and honey taste great together.

Let the whole mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Then, using a hand potato masher (or a food processor if you’re looking for a really smooth sauce), mash the apples until they look like applesauce.

Serve over freshly-fried latkes and or just enjoy as a sweet snack.

xoxo,

the hungry texans

Mimi’s cranberry relish

Posted on November 20, 2012 by lovettlovett

The irony of this cranberry relish (and many, many things I’ve now come to love) is it disgusted me for the first 15 years or so of my life. Thanksgiving dinner for this HungryTexan meant the blandest of plates. Turkey, mashed taters, dinner rolls. What about the dressing, gravy, sweet potatoes and cranberry relish? Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! and extra Yuck! so thought the tastebuds of a tinier Texan. Little by little my tastebuds matured and I learned the wonders of a more colorful Thanksgiving plate. I warmed to the cranberry relish last, but it’s since become one of my all time faves and it couldn’t be simpler.

Seriously, yall.Once you know how simple this homemade delight is, you better not even think about carving open a can of store-bought gelatinous cranberry goop! All you’ll need is:

1 bag of cranberries

1 apple (I used honeycrisp)

1 orange

1/2 c sugar

Slice your apples & oranges (keep the skin on!) and remove the seeds. I’d cut ’em a tiny bit smaller than the slices pictured above. Dump your cranberries, apples, and oranges into your food processor until all your fruits are pulverized. Then add your 1/2 cup of sugar and process it all together. You’ll be (cran)berry, berry happy you spent the 15 minutes to whip up this classy condiment for any Thanksgiving spread. It’s the perfect pop of color for any plate & a sweet-tart pop of flavor for your palette. Also, make this a few days in advance — it only gets better with age!

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