Cinnamon Apple Crisp: Three Days 'til Fall

Cinnamon Apple Crisp: Three Days 'til Fall

Hi everybody :)

Did you know in three more days Fall will be HERE!

Hooray, Hooray FALL IS NEAR!

I guess if you didn't know it before, you know now, that fall is my favorite time of year. I even wrote a poem about it here

I know you all didn't come here to hear me go on and on about how I love Fall; so let's get on to the recipe; which by the way is perfect for Fall :)

Okay, okay.... today's recipe is all about apples, I know I've been posting a lot of apple recipes lately, but I've have a feeling you're going to looovvvvve  this one.

Apple Crisp is my favorite Fall dessert, maybe after you taste this one, it will become yours too. Let's get it started....


Apple Crisp adapted partly Taste of Home: Baking

Ingredients:

Filling:

8 cups sliced peeled tart apples (I used Ganny Smith and Golden Delicious)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used cinnamon extract, 1/4 teaspoon) here
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons cornstarch (not shown in picture)
1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
1/4 cup caramel bits
2 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces (not shown in picture)

Topping:

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats (I used 3/4 cup  old fashioned)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used 3/4 cup)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons cold butter (I used 5 tablespoons)
Vanilla ice cream, optional
Caramel Ice Cream Topping, optional
1/4 cup Toasted Sugared Walnuts, or Walnut Ice Cream instead of Vanilla optional

In a large bowl, toss apple in lemon juice and add the remaining filling ingredients.

Filling Mixture

Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking dish.

In a bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Topping Mixture without Butter

Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Topping Mixture with Butter

Sprinkle over apple mixture.

Crisp before Baking

Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden. Place sheet pan on second rack to catch drippings.

Let cool to warm about 1 1/2 -2 hours; served with ice cream and caramel topping if desired.

What I Did and /or Think:

The changes I made are in Italic, as stated above.

For the Sugared Walnuts:
I toasted the walnuts with 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon/sugar, 1 teaspoon butter and pinch salt until fragrant; about 8 - 10 minutes in 350 oven; cool and sprinkle on top of ice cream along with caramel topping.

Sugared Walnuts

The Taste: DDDELICIOUS! REPEAT ALL AROUND!!

ENJOY! Come again.....

Linked to:
Rattlebridge Farms: Foodie Friday 
Tasty Tuesday (Food Only) @ Naptime Creation
Tuesday-Talent-Show:  Chef In Training 
 33 Shades of Green-Tasty Tuesday
 Show Me What You Got Tuesday's at ODH 
 Fall Favorites Link Party

Taco Chicken Fingers or Salad: Two Ways to Serve

Taco Chicken Fingers or Salad: Two Ways to Serve

Taco Chicken Fingers: The Appetizer

  OR....

Taco Chicken Salad: The Main Course

Hi everybody :)

I'm finally coming down from my sugar-high from this post. Today I wanted to keep it light and simple. So I decided to do a recipe that you can serve up twice, in two different ways. One as a appetizer served with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and chips; that would be perfect for entertaining. The other as a main course salad with a salsa dressing.

These two recipes begin with chicken breast. The chicken breasts are cut into tenders, coated with a tortilla crust, baked in the oven and used as an appetizer or in a salad. 

This recipe comes from my cookbook collection and here's is how it's done;


Taco Chicken Fingers From CREATIVE COOK'S KITCHEN COOKBOOK

For Chicken Fingers
4  boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves (about 1 1/4 - l 1/2 pounds) (I used three chicken breasts)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons milk (not shown in picture)
1 bag (9 ounces) tortilla chips
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
















For to Serve:
salsa
sour cream
guacamole
tortilla chips

Cooking The Chicken:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Cut each chicken breast half crosswise into 1/2-inch strips.

Chicken Tenders

In a large shallow bowl, whisk mayonnaise and milk until blended and smooth.

Milk & Mayonnaise

Place tortilla chips in a resealable plastic bag. Using a rolling pin, crush chips into fine crumbs.

Crushed Chips

In another large shallow bowl, toss 1 1/4 cups crushed tortilla chips with taco seasoning; mix well. Toss chicken strips first in mayonnaise mixture, then in crushed tortilla chips. 

Chicken with Coating - Uncooked

Tips: To maintain the tortilla crumb coating, refrigerate the coated chicken strips for 30 minutes before cooking.

Uncooked Chicken on Sheet

Place on prepared baking sheet (do not overlap).
Bake until just browned and chicken is cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

Or...
Taco Chicken Salad From CREATIVE COOK'S KITCHEN COOKBOOK

For Individual Salads:
Taco Chicken Fingers (recipe above)
Salsa (I used 2 parts salsa)
Mayonnaise (I used 1 part mayonnaise)
Lettuce or Salad Mix (I used salad mix)
Tomatoes
Avocado
Cucumber
Mexican Blend or Cheddar Cheese (not shown in picture)
Tortilla Chips, broken into pieces (not shown in picture)

To Make the Dressing:
Mix salsa and mayonnaise in a small bowl until combine, set aside.

2 parts Salsa & 1 part Mayonnaise

  

The Dressing

Fill lettuce cups with taco Chicken Fingers, then top with diced tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, cheese, chips or whatever you like.

 
What I Did and/or Think:
I followed the recipe and tip for the fingers.

The taste was Excellent. The chips adhere very well and stay on fairly well after cooking so I was please. I LOVE Mexican-Styled dishes so this is definitely a REPEAT! or Esto es definitivamente un REPEAT ! ( in Spanish)  :)

For the salad, I combine the things I thought would make a great salad. Using the idea for the dressing, I   mixed it 2 parts salsa, 1 part mayonnaise and because I wanted a little kick to it, I use Pace Medium Salsa.

This was worthy of a REPEAT also.

ENJOY! Come again.....

Linked to:
Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms: Melt-in-Your-Mouth Monday Recipe Blog Hop # 83
Jaime @ Mom's Test Kitchen
Flour Me With Love: Mix it up Monday!
Just Something I Whipped Up at Project Inspire (The Girl Creative)
Katherine Martinelli: Taco Blog Hop

Apple Pancakes with Apple Cider Syrup: Breakfast Is Served

Apple Pancakes with Apple Cider Syrup: Breakfast Is Served

Hi everybody :)

Welcome to another Breakfast Is Served Sunday, if you're just tuning in to my blog every Sunday I post a Breakfast Is Served, today you're in for a treat. I have not one but two recipes to share. YAH!  :) The last Breakfast Is Served is found here.

I decided to make apple pancakes and apple cider syrup for breakfast today because I thought it would be perfect for Fall. Here's how I made it:

For The Pancakes:

Apple Pancakes adapted partly Cook's Illustrated Cookbook
1 1/2 cups milk (use less milk for thicker pancakes more for thinner)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 - 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour (use less flour for thicker pancakes more for thinner)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (not shown in picture)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (not shown in picture)
3/4 cup diced peeled apple (1 apple) (I used Golden Delicious)
1-2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Whisk milk and lemon juice together in large measuring cup; set aside to thicken while preparing other ingredients. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl.

Dry Mixture

Add egg, melted butter, and apple to milk mixture and whisk until combined. Make well in center of dry ingredients; pour in milk mixture and whisk very gently until just combined (few lumps should remain). Do not over-mix.

Adding Milk Mixture to Dry Mixture

.











Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. When the pan is hot, turn it down slightly. For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup of the batter onto the center of the skillet.  Cook pancakes until large bubbles begin to appear, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

Pancake Before Flipping

Using thin, wide spatula. Flip pancakes and cook until second side is golden brown, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes longer. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil to the pan as necessary. Makes about 8 medium pancakes, Serving 4 to 6

 








For the Apple Cider Syrup: 

Apple Cider Syrup: adapted Taste of Home
1/2 cup sugar
1  tablespoon cornstarch 
1/8  teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8  teaspoon ground nutmeg ( I used apple pie spice)
1 cup apple cider or juice
2  tablespoons butter, cubed
1  tablespoon lemon juice
I added thinly slice apples and chopped toasted walnuts.

For the  Syrup:
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Sugar Mixture

Stir in cider until smooth. 

Sugar Mixture and Apple Cider

Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 2 minutes longer.

Adding Juice and Butter

 Stir in butter, lemon juice, and

Adding thinly sliced Apple

 



1 thinly sliced apple. Add toasted walnuts to the syrup and serve with pancakes. (1-1/2 cups syrup).

What I Did and/or Think:
I made the following changes I listed above; using apple pie spice and adding apple and walnut to the syrup.

The pancakes were light, fluffy and delicious. The syrup was lemony and delicious; was GREAT with the pancakes. This is definitely a REPEAT!

 ENJOY! Come again..... 

Linked to:   
Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms: Melt-in-Your-Mouth Monday Recipe Blog Hop # 83
Just Something I Whipped Up
Flour Me With Love: Mix it up Monday!
Sundae Scoop @ I Heart Naptime
Jaime @ Mom's Test Kitchen
Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party @ AddictedRecipes
Must Try Mondays: My Favorite Finds 
Fall Favorites Link Party