BAKED APPLES WITH HAZELNUTS, MAPLE CREAM + CREME FRAICHE

Last month I decided to say no to refined sugar for the time being, just to give my belly a break. I LOVE sweet treats and tend to go a little overboard when surrounded by tempting sugary concoctions. In years past, I've taken white sugar out of my kitchen for long stretches of times (for years, in fact) and I'm amazed at how much better I feel when I do.

Deprivation is not an option for me, so I get a lot of joy from playing with alternative sugars and whipping up natural sweets.  Honey, coconut and date sugars are always wonderful, and a jar of maple cream, recently to given to me by my awesome neighbors Rich and Caitlin, begged to be put to good use. I like to think of maple cream as nature's caramel! These baked apples, sweetened with the maple cream, satisfy my sweet-tooth while keeping my belly happy. I hope they warm your bellies too.

You can serve the apples as dessert of course, or you could eat them on top of a bowl of oatmeal for
breakfast.

INGREDIENTS
{printable recipe}

• 6 apples: pink ladies and honey crisps are wonderful here
• 1/2 cup crushed toasted hazelnuts (toasted pecans or walnuts are also great)
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• zest of 2 small lemons
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced into 6 pats
• maldon flaky sea salt 
• for topping: maple cream, creme fraiche ( for making your own creme fraiche, try this easy recipe), heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375.

Peel the upper 5th of your apple. Use a pairing knife to cut out the core - you want to cut a wider opening at the top, tapering down to the bottom of the apple. Place cored apples onto a baking dish or cookie sheet. If one of your apples won't sit up straight, slice a tiny bit off the bottom to give it a steady base.

Stuff apples with crushed hazelnuts. In a little cup or bowl, combine maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest. Scoop a spoonful or two of this tasty liquid over each hazelnut-stuffed apple. Place a pat of butter onto the top of each apple. Sprinkle on some flaky salt.

Place stuffed apples into the hot oven. Cook for 25-35 minutes until the sides of the apples have a little give when you press with your fingers. I like my baked apples pretty firm and just cooked through, not at all mushy.

While the apples are baking, scoop creme fraiche into a little pitcher. Use a fork to whisk in just enough heavy cream make the creme fraiche a pourable consistency.

Serve apples warm with a pitcher of runny creme fraiche and a ramekin of maple butter (amazing stuff!) or another pitcher of maple syrup to scoop over the baked apples.

Serves 6

AUTUMN BREAKFAST PORRIDGE

For me, fall feels official after we've had our first fire in the fireplace. I love long summer days, but sitting around with friends, chatting by the warmth of a fire on a dark evening makes saying goodbye to summer okay by me.

Autumn mornings are another story. There's something painful about dragging ourselves from bed before the sun rises. We all need a little extra help to wake our sleepy bellies and eating something warm and cozy like this oatmeal does help to put all of us in a good mood for the day. (I must confess that I also need a few cups of really strong coffee to get myself going!)

What's your morning routine these days?

My Baba was big into a warm bowl of Cream of Wheat in the morning. Even though wheat is no longer part of my life, I still like a hearty bowl of warm grains. Baba always chopped up dates and tossed them into the bowl - this tradition I happily continue. The carmely dates add a nice chewy, sweet bite and I like to add a few other of my favorite goodies to the mix. Slices of ripe juicy pears, toasted hazelnuts, along with cream and maple syrup, transform a simple bowl of oats into a full meal packed with complex flavor, texture, nourishment, and comfort - a very good was to start the day.

Pears are ridiculously good this time of year and I'm eating them every which way I can. How about you?

BREAKFAST POLENTA WITH BUTTERED APPLES AND HAZELNUTS

After eating dreamy breakfast polenta at Bather's Pavillion in Sydney, I had to make it myself. Polenta usually gets relegated to lunch or dinner, but it makes a really good breakfast porridge. So many ingredients can top the polenta... berries, pears, nuts of all sorts. And if you are wanting a less-sweet breakfast, poached eggs and aparagus would be tasty here as well.

In honor of all the apple orchards we've seen across New Zealand, I made simple, baked and buttered apples, inspired by Elizabeth David. I couldn't resist adding locally harvested hazelnuts from the Nelson Saturday Market.

If you are in need of a holiday breakfast, this belly-warming dish could easily serve a crowd.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Rhubarb. Strawberries. Hazelnuts.

I am seeing a theme in my recent dessert cravings: first, Rhubarb Compote; then, Hazelnut Cake with strawberries; and now Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble with hazelnuts in the topping. Eating seasonally means you figure out endless ways to work with certain ingredients that are abundant at the moment. We indulge in these just-ripe treasures until we can eat no more.

Lucero Strawberries are such a treat to see at the farmer's market after the long rainy months. P went wild and bought a flat for brunch with our friends Shana, Tony, Cleo, and Judah. After the eight of us stuffed our faces with the sweet berries, we had enough left over to make this crumble and some tasty strawberry preserves with thyme and lemon. (I'll share that recipe with you next week.)

When it comes to crisps and crumbles, I am usually a purist. I stay away from oats and nuts in the topping. However, the strawberry rhubarb crumble recipe from this month's Bon Appetit drew me in. The unexpected crunch of hazelnut is delectable. I'm a convert.


INGREDIENTS 
 adapted from Tamsen Day Lewis's recipe in Bon Appetit, May 2010

• 3/4 cups flour (GF Folks, I suggest Pamela's Bread and Flour Blend)
• 2/3 cup vanilla sugar (see notes)
• large pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup light agave nectar
• 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 chunks
• 1/2 cup oats ( GF folks, try Bob's Red Mill)
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts
• 4 cups strawberries
• 12 ounces rhubarb
• vanilla ice cream or heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet in hot oven for about 10 minutes until nuts are lightly toasted and the skins are blistered. Remove from oven and put nuts in a dish towel. Rub to remove skins. Then coarsely chop and set aside.

Turn oven down to 375. Lightly butter 11x7 baking dish.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, vanilla sugar, and salt. Add butter and use your fingertips to integrate the ingredients. When the mixture is sticking together in clumps, add the oats and chopped hazelnuts. Cover and chill.

Trim and slice rhubarb. Cut strawberries in half. Place in the baking dish. Pour agave over the top of strawberries and rhubarb. Gently toss together.

Distribute topping over the strawberries and rhubarb. Bake for 45 minutes until fruit is bubbling and top is a golden brown.

Let cool for 15 minutes and the fruit juices will thicken.  You can't go wrong with a warm serving of crumble with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you have leftovers, eat some for breakfast with heavy cream poured over the top. Go ahead, it's good.

Hazelnut Cake

I rarely read a cookbook from cover to cover. In fact, Platter of Figs by David Tanis may be the only cookbook I devoured like a novel. Between the artistry of Tanis' delectable menus and Christopher Hirsheimer's gorgeous photographs, I couldn't put the book down.

Tanis' Hazelnut Cake is simple and versatile. The roasted nuts provide a depth of flavor, yet the cake is surprisingly light.  I cannot help but take a dessert to a decadent level, so I enjoyed the cake most when when I doused it with a splash of rum and slathered it with sweetened whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Tanis also recommends using the cake as a base for tiramisu - this I must try.

On a healthier note, the cake itself is actually rich in protein and relatively low in sugar so we don't feel indulgent eating a leftover slice for breakfast with Greek yogurt and fresh fruit. 

INGREDIENTS
from David Tanis' Platter of Figs

• 1 pound shelled hazelnuts
• 8 large eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup sugar
• grated zest and juice of one lemon
• 2 tablespoons cake flour (GF folks, I use Pamela's bread and flour blend)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400. Place hazelnuts in hot oven for about 10 minutes until nuts are lightly toasted and the skins are blistered. Remove from oven and put nuts in a dish towel. Rub to remove skins.

Turn oven down to 350.

Coarsely grind nuts in a food processor or blender. Set aside.

Separate eggs.

In a standing mixer, blend egg yokes and sugar until creamy. Then add juice and zest from one lemon. (At this point the aroma of the lemon and the roasted nuts is incredible!) Also, add salt, flour, and chopped nuts to the mix and blend all ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff. Add 1/3 of whites to the nut mixture and blend. Finally, gently fold the remaining 2/3s of the egg whites into the batter.

Line the bottom of a 10 inch spring-form pan with a round of parchment, or butter and flour the cake pan. Pour in batter and place in 350 oven for 15 minutes.

Turn oven down to 325 and bake another 25 minutes or so. A toothpick inserted into the cake will come out clean when the cake is done.

Let cake cool completely on a rack before removing from the pan.

While the recipe is not difficult, I seemed to use every utensil in the kitchen and made a huge mess...

Persimmon Salad with Hazelnuts, Prosciutto, Watercress, and Baked Goat Cheese

Persimmons are a my kitchen's mascot for Fall. Their skins reflect the color of the turning leaves and they inspire me to prepare earthy, hearty, autumnal meals.

This salad is perfect as a main for a fall lunch, or can be a shared appetizer before a dinner of grilled lamb and roasted root vegetables. Also, a generous portion could be an antipasti plate. I love the juxtaposing flavors: fresh yet roasted; sweet yet salty.

Doing a couple of things in advance can make preparation for this salad really fast and easy: I suggest soaking goat cheese overnight in olive oil; I always like having a stash of breadcrumbs in the freezer; and having a pot of watercress in the backyard is a plus.


Ingredients

2 bunches watercress
2 Fuyu persimmons
1/4 pound prosciutto slices
1 cup hazelnuts
4 rounds goat chesse, 1/2 thick
3/4 cup toasted breadcrumbs ( I used Mariposa's sandwich bread)
2 tablespoons port balsamic (or any balsamic you like)
8 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, minced
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Clean and trim watercress and distribute around the edge of a dinner-sized plate to make a halo of greens. Repeat for 4 total plates.

Put hazelnuts in a pan on the stove top, with burner on medium/high. (I like to toast nuts on the stove so I can keep my eye on them, shake them occasionally, and keep them from burning.) After about 10-12 minutes, the hazelnuts should be nicely toasted. Spread nuts out on a dishcloth to cool. When the nuts are cool, use the cloth to rub the skins off. Coarsely chop and set aside.

Peel persimmons and slice into thin wedges. Tear each prosciutto slice into long strips, with about 1 inch width . Wrap each wedge of persimmon with a strip of prosciutto. On each plate, place 8 or so wrapped persimmons around the inside of the watercress halo.

This baked goat cheese technique is adapted from Chez Panisse and Cafe Fanny.... If you have soaked your goat cheese rounds overnight, go ahead and dredge them in breadcrumbs until covered on all sides. ( If you haven't soaked the cheese, you can lightly coat each round with olive oil to make sure the breadcrumbs stick to the cheese.) Place on a lightly greased baking pan. Put in the oven for 6-9 minutes. When done, the cheese should be warmed through and soft to the touch, but not melted. Placed one round of baked cheese in middle of each plate.

For the dressing, combine minced shallot, balsamic, olive oil, and a generous pinch of salt.

Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts and lightly drizzle vinaigrette over the top of the salad.

Serves 4 as a main, or 8 as a shared appetizer

A note to families: For picky eaters, like my own kiddos, I recommend a deconstructed version of this salad. Kids can pick and choose from the ingredients to make their own delicious concoction.