Fall Apple Muffins

We spent the weekend in Michigan last weekend and on the way back home stopped by an orchard to go apple picking!  We ended up taking home 20 lbs of apples... hence the apple muffins.  The smell of cinnamon and baked apples really starts to ring in the fall.  I got this recipe from a friend's cooking blog - she always has the best recipes.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

• 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour
• 1 cup (4¼ ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• ½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar
• ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream, buttermilk or yogurt
• 2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons of demerera sugar for crunchy top or brown sugar

• Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups and set aside.
• Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.Mix in the buttermilk gently. (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.
• Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling demerera sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Makes 18 muffins
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Cinammon Bread Pudding

As the first cinammon-colored leaves of autumn start to fall, what better way to get toasty on a chilly day than with some delicious bread pudding! For this recipe, I skipped the raisins though. =)



Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups bread, torn into small pieces
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:
1. In medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat milk just until film forms over top. Combine butter and milk, stirring until butter is melted. Cool to lukewarm.
2. Combine sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 1 minute. Slowly add milk mixture.
3. Place bread in a lightly greased 1 1/2 quart casserole.
4. Sprinkle with raisins if desired. Pour batter on top of bread.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes or until set. Serve warm.

Homemade pancakes

So crepes are yummy and all, but at a certain point, you are really missing thick and light pancakes (usually coming from the Maya, pillsbury or golden crown - I think that's the name - box). Unfortunately, it's not easy finding this in Belgium. After trying all the recipes I could find - a whole year of pancakes on a Sunday, I've decided that this was the simplest and tasted the best. Most important is the milk - get a good brand.

1.5 cups flour
2tbsp sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda (it's called sodium bicarbonate in Belgium)
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1.5 cups milk (you can play with the measurement to get the consistency you are looking for)
2 medium eggs
2 tbsp vegetable oil - I use canola. Don't use olive oil!

Mix all ingredients except the butter with a whisk (yes, the oil goes in the batter too). Don't over mix. You can leave some clumps of flour.

For the first pancake, place a pan on high heat. Pour in the batter and lower heat to medium. For the 2nd and following pancakes, keep the
heat on medium. If you don't want it to get too black, wipe the pan with a kitchen towel after every pancake. I'm not too particular and I don't and it still looks and tastes ok for me.

Serve with maple syrup and bacon or blueberries or any of your favorite pancake toppings.

Baked Spaghetti with Two Sauces

Meat Sauce

INGREDIENTS

1 kilo ground beef
garlic
onions
green/red pepper
black pepper
spaghetti sauce
tomato paste
beef cubes or beef broth
salt
sugar

PROCEDURE

1. Saute garlic and onions
2. Add beef, simmer until brown
3. Add spaghetti sauce and tomato paste.
4. Add beef cube or beef broth, sugar and salt
5. Add 2 cups of water, simmer for 45 minutes

White Sauce

PROCEDURE

1 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 liter milk
1/2 beef cubes

PROCEDURE

1. Melt butter
2. Add cup flour
3. Add milk
4. Stir until thickened
5. Add beef cubes

BAKING PROCEDURE

1. Pour white sauce on a baking dish.
2. Add spaghetti noodles.
3. Pour meat sauce
4. Pour white sauce.
5. Add spaghetti noodles.
5. Pour meat sauce
6. Pour white sauce then sprinkle grated cheese on top, cover the top.
7. Bake in oven until cheese melts and turns golden brown.


*I should mention this is the family recipe of my friend Cat Juan, it became tradition to have this every Sunday night in Alabang among friends, and feeling homesick one day, I decided to make this and used two kinds of cheese on top, parmesan and emmental.

Braised Short Ribs

I learned this from a friend who came over to visit and cooked us this kick ass braised rib dinner.  Its a perfect fall / winter dish - also perfect to make in large batches and then freeze leftovers.  You can also make with lamb (use the leg or shoulder).

Braised Short Ribs
Carrots - 2 sticks large cubes
Celery - 1 stalk large cubes
Onions - 1 medium sized large cubes
Leeks - 1-2 only the white part cubed
Peppercorn
Bay leaf
Tomato paste - 1 small can or half of a tube
Red wine - 1/2 cup
Salt / pepper
Stock - this is the key: if you can find VEAL stock that's fresh - check out specialty grocery stores or butcher shops, they may sell frozen fresh stock.  If they have demi-glace stock (that's just thickened stock, even better - use half regular, half demi-glace).  If you can't find fresh stock, then regular is fine.  Get enough stock to completely cover the beef in the pan you are cooking
Fresh herbs - rosemary, thyme
Pan - you need a deep pan or cooking dish, best to use a braising pan or one of those iron cast Le Creuset dutch or french oven pans.  If not, a regular soup or stock pot with a lid will work.

Preheat oven to 400F.  Season the beef with salt and pepper (on all sides).  In a pan (on high heat), sear all sides of the short rib until golden brown.  Make sure the pan is super smoking hot, you can use oil so that the beef doesn't stick.  Once you sear the beef, remove from pan and put aside.  Remove some of the oil from the pan and saute the carrots, onions, leeks.  When the vegetables are soft, add the tomato paste, then the red wine.  Lower to medium heat and let the wine evaporate so that the mixture thickens.  Once its pasty, put the beef back in and add the stock until all the meat is covered.  Add the peppercorns, fresh herbs and bay leaf.  Cover the pan and after the stock starts to boil, transfer to the entire pan/pot into the oven and keep for about 2-2.5 hours.  You will know when its ready when you poke the meat it easily separates from the bone.  You can't overcook it.  If you want, you can turn the oven heat down to about 375F after an hour or so of cooking.  As you check the meat, you can season the stock to taste as needed (or even skim off the oil if you like).  The veggies will practically melt too, so best to slice them into large chunks so they don't disappear completely.

I love having this with white rice - so you can mix the sauce with the rice.  Other variations include adding potatoes - Tims, knock yourself out on this one :).  For a Morrocan twist, you can use lamb (leg or shoulder) follow same recipe above but add cinnamon sticks into the stock, dried apricots.  Then before serving, grate some lemon rind onto the top, sprinkle some fresh chopped mint and serve with couscous.

Haianese chicken

3 tbsp rice wine or parsley
1 onion
1 carrot
Quartered corn
Sesame oil
Celery
Pepper corns
1 leek
Shitake mushrooms
Ginger
1 whole chicken (I prefer to use chopped up chicken bought separately)

Boil all ingredients in water ( about enough water to cover chicken)
Rub chicken with sesame oil, garlic and ginger - trust me, the stinky fingers are well worth the effort
When water is boiling, drop chicken and boil for 6 minutes.
Turn off the fire and leave covered for 2 hours. No matter how tempted you are, do not lift the lid. No peeking whatsoever.
After 2 hours, debone the chicken (or if you are tamad like me, you don't really need to unless you want to make it pretty). Return the bones

to the broth and let boil.

RICE
Sauté canola oil, sesame oil, chicken fat, choppednonions and ginger juice (you can grate some ginger). Add rice and coat in sauteed stuff. Cook rice as you usually do. (I sauté in the rice cooker, add rice then the water. Works pretty well.)

SAUCES

Grate ginger, sesame oil, salt, pepper and grated leeks. Sauté all ingredients

Ketjap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce - I find this in Asian stores)

Sambal oelek - something like a pepper paste I also find in groceries here

Serve sauces separately so you can mix based on your preference.

It's a bit of work, but really worth the effort - especially when you can not find this where you live.

Fabulous Lamb Adobo

"Excite your friends and baffle your enemies" was the small note attached to this recipe when I first got it. And it turned out to be true - it's quite simply adobo with a twist and it's really easy to make, the secret is really the balsamic vinegar. It's great with white rice (of course) but you can experiment by serving it with couscous mixed with sundried tomatoes and a sprinkling of lime. Oh, and I prefer the lamb with bones so the meat falls nicely off when it's ready!


Ingredients:
2.7 kilos chopped leg of lamb (with or without bones is fine)
Garlic (one crushed and one whole bulb with first layer of skin peeled)
3-5 Bay leaves
1/3 cup Balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup regular vinegar
1 cup soy sauce
1 and 1/2 cup water
3 tbsp sugar to taste
salt and pepper to taste
boiled eggs (optional)

1. Brown lamb pieces in olive oil
2. Place lamb, vinegars, bay leaves, soy sauce, sugar, water, crushed garlic in pot. Boil on low heat for one hour, stirring occasionally.
3. After first hour, throw in one bulb of garlic, continue boil on low heat.
4. After one hour and a half of simmering (place boiled eggs if you'd like), check if meat is dark brown and easily falls apart when pressed. Simmer for 10-15 more minutes.
5. Serve whenever you'd like. Actually better when you cook it the day before.