Crockpot Apple Butter

Sometimes you find a place that speaks to you and wraps itself around your heart ... Vermont is such a place to us. Fifteen years ago we came for a visit in the middle of summer when the land and the mountains were covered with a lush green that soothed the eye and the soul. The wild flowers were in bloom in colors that only nature could perfect and the air was clean and clear and it was easy to believe that this was indeed God's country.


Who knew that those mountains would hold me in their grasp? There I was -- a child of a tropical island -- of hot sand and cool breezes, mesmerized by this land that spoke to something in me. Was it the memories of my Scottish ancestors within me that recognized this place or was it the memories of my English ancestors from the gently rolling hills of Devon?

It was a call too loud to ignore and we have bought a condo in Newport Center and land in Derby where we hope to someday build our home. And on that land are apple trees as nature intended them to be, producing apples that are small and not very pretty but are nonetheless edible and pesticide free. They screamed to be made into apple butter.

There are two kinds of apples on the Derby land ... one that is red and sweet and the other yellow with a slightly tart bite to it. That is the one that I thought would make the better apple butter.

3 lb. apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup fresh apple cider
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. all spice
1/2 tsp. cloves
Dash of salt

1. Fill a crockpot with the apples. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Cover and cook on low setting overnight or until apple butter is thick and speadable.

2. If apple butter has too much liquid, remove lid and cook until it is of the desired consistency.

3. To can: sterilize jars, fill to 3/4 full, put lids on and place jars in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars from water and place on racks to cool ... you will hear a pinging sound as the jars seal themselves.

4. Yields 7 1/2 pint jars of apple butter.

Meatballs and Spaghetti

When I am in the mood to make my own meatballs, this is the recipe that I use. It is a Tyler Florence recipe but I do not make the meatballs as big as he does!

1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 Tbsp. roughly chopped parsley
1 cup milk
4 thick slices firm white bread, crust removed
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 1/2 lb ground pork or turkey or veal
1 large egg
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Heat 3 Tbsp. oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and parsley and cook until the vegetables are soft but still translucent, about 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let cool.

2. Pour enough milk over the bread in a bowl to moisten and let it soak while the onions are cooling.

3. Combine the meats in a large bowl. Add the egg and Parmigiano-Reggiano and season generous with salt and pepper. Use your hands to squeeze the excess milk out of the bread and add that to the meat mixture along with the cooled onion mixture. Gently combine all the ingredients with your hands or with a spoon until just mixed together. Do not over mix or the meatballs will be tough. Divide them into 10 equal pieces and shape them into balls. You can make them smaller and get more meatballs.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

5. Heat about 3 tablespoons of oil in frying pan over medium heat and brown the meatballs on all sides, about 10 minutes or less if the meatballs are smaller. Place meatballs in a baking dish. Spoon over half of whatever tomato sauce you will be serving and bake for about 15 minutes.

6. While meatballs are baking, cook your spaghetti and heat up your tomato sauce and enjoy!



Note: If you want to freeze some of the meatballs, just cook them all the way through in the pan, cool and freeze for later use.

Seafood and Mushroom Crepes

When this dish appears, it means that Lent is here. I made up this recipe years ago when John described a dish he had at a restaurant called the Sea Watch in Florida, and it has remained one of our favorite dishes.

Crepes:
2 Tbsp. butter, melted & cooled
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose salt
1/2 tsp. salt

1. About 3 hours before serving or overnight: In a bowl whisk melted butter, eggs and milk. Add flour and salt and whisk until smooth. Cover; refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. Brush 7-inch crepe pan and 10-inch skillet with butter and heat over medium heat. Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter into crepe pan and spread as thinly as possible. Cook until underside is lightly brown but edges are not crisp. Flip into skillet and cook for about 30 seconds and then remove to waxed paper covered plate.

3. Repeat until all batter is used up.

Seafood filling:
5 Tbsp. butter
3/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk (2 % or whole)
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
2 cups medium raw shrimp peeled, de-veined and tails removed
1 cup small scallops
chopped parsley

1. In 3-quart sauce pan over medium heat, in butter, cook mushrooms until soft. Remove to a bowl.

2. In same pan add shrimp and cook until almost done before adding scallops and cooking for another 1 - 2 minutes. Remove seafood to a clean bowl and set aside.

3. Add 3 tablespoons butter to the pan and melt. With a whisk add flour and salt and cook until brown, stirring with whisk. In a bowl, mix broth, sherry and milk; stir into flour mixture in pan; cook until thickened. Stir in cheese until melted, remove pan from heat.

4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Reserve 1/2 cup of the sauce. Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish.

5. Add the cooked seafood to the cheese sauce and all but 1/4 cup of the cooked mushrooms.

6. Start assembling crepes -- spoon 1/3 cup filling onto a crepe; roll up and place in baking dish. Repeat until all crepes are done.

7. Sir 2 tablespoons milk and mushrooms into reserved sauce; spoon over crepes. Bake 20 minutes. Top with parsley and serve hot.

Note: I make my crepes smaller and can get about 10 crepes out of the batter.

Gluten Free Crepes

1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup milk

2 large eggs

2 tbsp. butter, melted

1. Preheat a  6 - 7 skillet/crepe pan over medium heat.

2. Fix flour & salt.

3. Beat milk and eggs until well combined. Whisk milk mixture into the flour mixture until smooth. Add melted butter and whisk until well combined.

4. Brush pan with butter. Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour batter into pan, swirling to form an even circle around pan. Cook until underside is very lightly golden ... loosen edges and flip over. Cook for about 30 seconds. Slide onto a platter.

5. Repeat until all batter is used up.

 

Tilapia Piccata

1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. powdered chicken buillon

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp. capers, rinsed & drained

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

4 Tilapia fillets (4 oz. each)

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Cooking spray

2 tsp. light tub margarine/spread

1 medium lemon, quartered

1. In a small bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon flour and the buillon. Gradually pour in the water, whisking until smooth, add wine and lemon juice. Stir in capers. Set aside.

2. On a plate, stir together 1/3 cup flour, salt & pepper.

3. Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towels. Coat each fillet with the flour mixture, gently shaking off excess. Transfer to another plate. Repeat with remaining fish fillets.

4. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the bottom. Cook the fish for 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Lightly spray the top of the fish fillets with the cooking spray. Turn fillets over and cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Transfer the fish to a clean platter.

5. Pour buillon mixture into the skillet. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring often until thickened.

6. With the heat on low, stir in margarine until melted. Return the fish to the skillet. Spoon sauce over the fish and simmer for 1 - 2 minutes, till fish and sauce are heated through.

7. Serve with a lemon quarter.

Macaroni & Cheese

This is a Paula Deen recipe that I have altered. I could not stomach the thought of adding eggs to Mac & Cheese, so I left that out and changed some of the processes, and the recipe is still delicious.

2 cups elbow macaroni

4 Tbsp. butter, cut up

2 1/2 cups (10 oz) grated sharp Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (1o 3/4 oz) condensed cheddar cheese soup

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 cup milk, room temperature

1. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan and cook elbow macaroni for 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. In a heavy saucepan, mix cheddar cheese soup, butter, salt, mustard, pepper and milk. Heat on medium until mixture is hot and slightly bubbly, stirring constantly.

3. Mix in sour cream and fold in cheese, stirring until all cheese is melted. Pour cooked elbow macaroni into cheese mixture and mix well.

4. Pour macaroni mixture into a buttered casserole dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Horseradish and Garlic Prime Rib

This is Tyler Florence's recipe ... I take no credit for it, except for having the good sense to watch his Ultimate episode on TV! I always follow this recipe to the T ... it is excellent just the way it is.

1 (3-rib) prime rib beef roast, about 6 lb.

5 garlic cloves, smashed & minced finely

1/2 cup grated fresh or prepared horseradish

1/2 cup sea salt

1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 parsnips

1 red onion, halved

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Lay the beef in a large roasting pan with the bone sine down.

3. In a small bowl mash together the garlic, horseradish, salt, pepper, and olive oil to make a thick paste.

4. Massage the paste generously over the entire roast. Scatter the vegetables and halved onion around the meat. Drizzle with olive oil.

5. Roast the beef for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for medium rare (or 2o minutes per pound). Check the internal temperature of the roast in several places with an instant-read thermometer; it should register 125 degrees F for medium-rare.

6. Remove the beef to a carving board and let it rest for 20 minutes. Discard vegetables.

Note: I scrape off the horseradish & garlic crush before I start carving, but you can leave it on if you like. Just remember it is very salty and garlicky ... but some people might actually like that.

Pizza Rolls

Appertizers start appearing in our house during the holidays. If there is going to be a big dinner, then I'll serve several substantial appertizers instead of lunch. Here is one of Sarah's favorites. It's a very forgiving recipe and you can make substitutions quite easily without affecting the finished product.

4 cups (16 oz) shredded pizza cheese blend or mozzarella cheese

1 lb bulk Italian sausage, cooked and drained

2 packages ( 3 oz each) sliced pepperoni, chopped

1 medium green pepper, finely chopped

1 medium sweet red pepper, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 jars (14 oz each) pizza sauce

32 egg roll wrappers

Vegetable oil for frying

Additional pizza sauce for dipping, warmed, optional

1. In a large bowl, combine the cheese, sausage, pepperoni, peppers and onion.

2. Stir in pizza sauce until combined.

3. Place about 1/4 cup filling in the center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold bottom corner over filling; fold sides toward center over filling. Moisten remaining corner with water and roll up tightly to seal.

4. In skillet, heat 1 inch of oil to 375 degrees . Fry pizza rolls for 1 - 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Do not crowd the skillet.

5. Drain the browned rolls on paper towels. Serve hot with warm pizza sauce.

Makes: 32 rolls.

Note: I do not use chopped peppers since two out of the three people in this family do not like it. Just reduce the amount of sauce used. If you do not like pizza sauce, just use a traditional spaghetti sauce, which is what I do a lot. I also use smaller wonton wrappers instead of the egg wrappers. If you want smaller rolls, just cut the egg roll wrapper into four squares ... works just as well as buying wonton wrappers. If it's just the three of us, I will use just half of the filling and save it in the refrigerator for using later.