French Toast with Cinnamon Apple

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP butter
• 1 apple, cored and sliced
• cinnamon
• sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 slices of wheat bread

Directions:

1) Melt the butter.
2) Cook the apple over medium heat for a minute or two.








3) Add the cinnamon and sugar and cook until it is soft. Then remove.
4) Mix the eggs and the milk.
5) Dip the bread into the egg and milk mixture (both sides).
6) Add to the same pan that the apples were in and cook until crispy, then flip.
7) Cook until crispy on the other side.

Apple Cobbler

I'm staying with friends in Boston right now, and they signed up for Boston Organics meaning that every Tuesday they get a box of veggies and fruit delivered that is all organic and from the Boston area, but some are from NY or as far as CA so you can get different types of stuff that normally doesn't grow in your area.

Anyway, one of the things we got this week was apples. The package also comes with some recipes that you can make with the items in the basket. I was just going to make apple pie, but my friend has the mini baking tins so we decided this was better (since the tins had never been used before).

This dish can be served warm or cold and with or without ice cream. If you want to reheat it (as I will be doing), preheat the oven to 350F/175C again and then heat the bowls for 5-10 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 4 apples, peeled, cored and cut into large pieces
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp apple pie seasoning (you can leave this out if you don't have it, the original recipe didn't call for this or cinnamon, but I figure it always makes it better)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.
2) Toss apples, sugar, salt, cinnamon and apple pie seasoning together.







3) Divide equally among 4 individual oven proof bowls.









4) Combine butter and flour with fingertips until mixture has the texture of oatmeal (I used the same bowl without washing it out).
5) Add brown sugar and mix in a bit, allowing for the mixture to be lumpy.





6) Distribute evenly over apples.









7) Bake for 30 minutes. I placed them on one tray so putting them in and taking them out would be easy.

Apple and Blackberry Pastry

National Pastry Day is tomorrow (http://www.thenibble.com/fun/more/facts/holidays-december.asp), but I won't have time then to make something delicious so I did it today!

I don't have a rolling pin, so the presentation is not great due to the dough being thick--but at least I made dough instead of buying it like the cookbook said! (I also think I might not be able to buy it here...Tesco randomly does not have stuff.)

Ingredients:

• Icing Sugar, to dust
• 425g pack ready-rolled shortcrust pastry (or follow the recipe below)
• 2 Bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 2 TBSP light brown soft sugar
• 150g punnet blackberries
• thick cream, to serve (very English...)

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 200C/392F.
2) Dust a work surface with icing sugar then unroll the pastry.

3) Cut out four rounds (if possible...) using a small side plate as a template.
4) Combine the apples and sugar with the blackberries.






5) Put a small pile on each pastry circle/line/whatever shape you got.
6) Dampen the edge of the pastry then fold over to encase the fruit.
7) Pinch and fold over the pastry along one edge to make a pasty shape (or just make sure the top is connected so it does not fall apart while baking).



8) Slash each pastry three times (or leave part open...).
9) Place on a baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden.
10) Dust with the icing sugar and serve with cream.

Shortcrust Pastry Recipe:
I read here: http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/baking/how-to-make-shortcrust-pastry.html about how to make it and followed these directions: http://britishfood.about.com/od/recipeindex/r/scpastry.htm but made 1.5x the amount to cover the 425g for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 300g flour
• 115g butter, cubed
• pinch of salt
• 2-3 TBSP water

Directions
1) Sift the flour.

2) Add the butter and salt.








3) Mix with your hands until you have something similar to breadcrumbs.
4) Add the water and mix with a cold knife (so the dough does not get too warm and ruin itself).






5) Place in plastic wrap.
6) Put in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.