Ham, Brie and Apple Sandwich

Ladies and gentlemen, it's HOT outside. I love my kitchen as much as the next girl, but at the end of a sultry afternoon I come home and look at the stove and I just...can't...do it. That's when it is handy to have a nice pile of sandwich recipes in your back pocket. Recipes that involve dealing with only one large kitchen appliance, and that is the refrigerator.

If you can find it under all the magnets and pieces of paper.

Take the following out of your fridge: thin sliced ham. Really good Brie cheese (I am in love with a brie-like cheese called D'Affinios. If you can find it, give it a try...it will ruin all varieties of Brie for you for the rest of your life, but it will be worth it.) Back to the fridge: you also need a nice crisp Granny Smith apple, some good bread (I used ciabatta bread for our sandwiches)...and here's the kicker. The secret ingredient. The thing that elevates this ham sandwich above all other ham sandwiches...

Mango chutney.

I'm always a little fearful of chutney, to be perfectly honest. I'm just suspicious of all those sweet and sharp bits and pieces of things all lurking together there in the same jar, and you are never really sure about what all of them are, but in this case I don't care, because it just WORKS. I used the Stonewall Kitchen variety of mango chutney and that may have had something to do with it, because everything they make is pretty much perfection. But do whatever you need to do chutney-wise.

So tonight for dinner, just say no to the stove, and hello to ham sandwiches.

Ham, Brie and Apple Sandwich, adapted from Everyday Food

• Thinly sliced ham
• Sliced Brie cheese
• Thinly sliced Granny Smith apple
• Mango chutney (or the chutney of your choice)
• Sliced bread

Spread mango chutney on bread slices. Layer ham, cheese and apple on bread, top with second piece of bread, and enjoy!

Click here for printable recipe

Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad

Summertime is most definitely chicken salad season, and I don't mean the old chicken plus mayo plus celery version. Although there's definitely nothing wrong with that. But there are SO many chicken salads out there that are a perfect fusion of all that great summer produce that (yahoo!) springing up all around us. (Remind me that I just said that in about 6 weeks when I am complaining about being surrounded by my basil.) Mediterranean Chicken Salad, with fresh string beans and tomatoes. Tarragon Chicken Salad, with the delicious sweet taste of fresh tarragon. And one of my absolute faves, Chicken Salad with Corn, Fresh Thyme and Goat Cheese Dressing. Yum, yum and yum again.

The great thing about chicken salad -- one of the great things -- is that you can throw it together in practically no time if you remember to toss a few chicken breasts on the grill every time you fire it up this summer. Bathe them in a little Italian salad dressing, or even just some olive oil and vinegar with fresh pepper, and grill them until they are just cooked, about 4-5 minutes per side. Then store them in the fridge until you are ready to use them later in the week. When chicken salad time rolls around, tear the chicken with your fingers so you have some nice bite sized pieces, and then you are ready to roll.

This particular chicken salad is loosely based on a recipe from Cooks Illustrated, and features chopped cheddar cheese, chopped apple, dried cranberries, candied walnuts and romaine lettuce, tossed with a simple viniagrette. In this case, I had a bag of mixed candied nuts left over from something, and that's what I used. (Chicken salad is all about improvisation.) Toss it all together in pretty much whatever portions you like (I like LOTS of chicken) and summertime, super-easy dinner is served!

Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad, adapted from Cooks Illustrated

• 1 pound boneless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
• 1 large head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar, cut into small cubes
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into small chunks
• 1 cup candied or spiced walnuts (or any variety of nuts that you like)
• 1/2 red onion, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Dressing

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 shallot, peeled
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup olive oil

1. Process all dressing ingredients except oil in food processor until shallot and garlic are finely chopped. Add oil and continue to process until emulsified.

2. Combine all salad ingredients and toss with 1/2 to 3/4 cup dressing. Divide salad among plates and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Sheriff Stubb's Gorgonzola Burgers

Oh yes, it is really and truly grilling season, and you know what that means...time to break out the barbecue sauce! In our house, our favorite sauce (after much taste-testing of many sauces) is something called Stubb's. It comes in all kinds of flavors, and our preference at the moment is for the Hickory Bourbon variety.



I had it out to make my dangerous BBQ Casserole a little while back, and the southern husband must have found a website on the jar while he was holding it lovingly in his arms, because the next day there was a print-out on my desk for a recipe entitled Sheriff Stubb's Gorgonzola Burgers. Well technically it was half a recipe, because he only printed out one page. Maybe he thought if I had the general idea I could just wing it. But it's the thought that counts, and he happily ran back and printed the rest of it when I said I just might make these if I actually had the whole recipe.

Now, the reason these are called Sheriff Stubb's burgers is (I think) because of the apple slices that go on top of the burger. The recipe says to cut perpendicular slices of a Granny Smith apple and pop the seeds out of the center, leaving you with what they call a Sheriff's Star. So I did...and sure enough, there was the star.



Slight digression: that is the teenager's hand, and please note the blue heart drawn in magic marker. I have asked her approximately 900 times not to draw on her hands, or arms, or feet, or other body parts...and inevitably at least once a week she is sitting at the dinner table with more artwork on herself. Which leads to this:

Me: I thought I said please don't draw on yourself with ink?

Her: My friend did it and I didn't notice.

or...

Her: I didn't have any paper

or...

Her: I was bored and I couldn't help it!

Etc.

Anyway, you pop these apple slices on the grill alongside your burgers (which by the way have been made by mixing a little bbq sauce in with the meat and wrapping bacon slices around the burgers), and you grill them up together until the burgers are cooked to your liking and the bacon is done and the apple slices are warm and a little soft. Meantime you mix up some crumbled blue cheese with a little more bbq sauce until you have a nice little spread -- you can see it on the bottom of the bun on that picture up top. Layer it all together, and there you go. Go make 'em.

Sheriff Stubb's Gorgonzola Burgers

1lb Ground Beef
8 Slices of Bacon
3 Tbs of Stubb’s Bar-B-Que Sauce
½ Cup Gorgonzola Cheese
Medium Granny Smith Apples
Hamburger Buns

1. Combine 1lb ground beef with 3 Tbs Stubb’s BBQ Sauce. Form 4 patties, wrap each patty with two pieces of bacon, securing with toothpicks. Baste thoroughly with Stubb’s Bar-B-Q Sauce and set in refrigerator until ready to grill.

2. Thinly slice apple perpendicularly to the core. Slices should be about 1/8 inch thick. Gently remove any seed pieces, leaving a Sheriff Star in the middle. Set aside until ready to grill.

3. Combine ½ cup gorgonzola with 1/3 cup Stubb’s Bar-B-Q Sauce. Gently blend leaving slightly lumpy. Refrigerate until use.

4. Cook burgers and Sheriff Star apples on the grill over medium heat.

5. Lightly toast buns and spread bottom bun with Gorgonzola Spread. Remove toothpicks from cooked burgers, top with Sheriff Stubb Apples Badges and serve on top of prepared bun.

Click here for printable recipe

Apple iPad Reminds me of Star Trek Padd!

When I saw the new Apple iPad, my jaw dropped, it looked just like the Padd so frequently used in all of the Star Trek series! I always liked those Padds in the television shows because you could write stories, poems, but also look up historical records, do inventory, read books, write mission reports, the sky was the limit. I am not a big fan of new gadgets that come out every week and make the gadget I just purchased obsolete so I tend to only pay attention to what is being invented and usually it takes me years to get something new that I feel will stay around a while without being replaced quickly. When I see something similar to a common Trek prop, I get more curious than usual, but not curious enough to buy until it really has books, history, math, well, something very Star Trek -like, but that is just me, waiting for the ultimate piece of technology. Anyway, I like the look of it but I am waiting to hear if it is easy to use and not too sensitive to the touch or fragile because I am very rough with things like my cellphone, for example, I have dropped it more times than I can count and it still works! I would not want a fragile Padd, it needs to be space-worthy, Ha!

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Apple Bacon Pizza

Now, I am not usually someone who likes her pizza messed with. As a matter of fact, whenever we order pizza, I am the one that insists that at least half of it has to be plain -- none of this sausage or meatball or pineapple nonsense. So why on earth I decided to try this one, I have no idea. Maybe because I had an open jar of apple butter in the fridge? Maybe because it involved bacon? Maybe because the moon was in the seventh house and Jupiter was aligned with Mars?

At any rate, I heard about this from my friend P, who (I think) just made it up off the top of his head, and after he described it to me I just kept thinking about it. It does have the whole sweet and salty thing going on, which of course I adore. And so one day when I happened to have all the components in my kitchen, I took the plunge and made it.

YUM.

It was just the right balance of the sweet apple and apple butter and the salty bacon and cheese, and the red onion gave it just that little kick. I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe for pizza dough which you can find by clicking here, and I actually made it the night before -- by the next evening it was still perfect, and I just stretched it right out into a thin rectangle. You can also use store-bought pizza dough if you want to, but the home-made kind is a snap to make, just so you know. Spread on some apple butter, sprinkle on the toppings, bake at 500 for about 10 minutes and then dig in.

I still don't think I can cope with bacon cheeseburger pizza though.

APPLE BACON PIZZA

• Pizza dough, enough for one pizza
• 1 cup apple butter
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup chopped cooked bacon
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
• 2 cups shredded fontina cheese

1. Preheat oven to 500.

2. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Put dough on tray and stretch into a rectangle shape, making sure the dough is nice and thin.

3. Spread apple butter on dough. Sprinkle cheese on top, followed by other toppings.

4. Bake for about 10 minutes until crust is browned and cheese is melted.

5. Cook for a few minutes, then slice and enjoy!

Click here for printable recipe.

Butternut Chai Soup

I fell head over heels in love with chai tea several years ago when my friend S took me by the hand, led me into Starbucks, bought me a chai tea latte, put it in my hands and said, "Trust me." Ever since then I have been a complete sucker for anything with the word "chai" in the title. And so when I ran across this recipe for butternut soup cooked with chai spices...well, they had me at hello. When you think about it, it is kind of genius...butternut is a close cousin to pumpkin, chai spices include a lot of the sweet and spicy flavors you find in pumpkin pie...so it kind of was a match made in heaven.

And to (literally) top it all off, the recipe also calls for a quick and wonderful topping that you make by stirring together a little creme fraiche, a little apple cider and a little cinnamon. Creme fraiche is usually in whatever part of your supermarket where they keep the refrigerated fancy things, but if you have trouble finding it, sour cream will work for this too. You drizzle a little bit on the top of your soup just before serving it, and if you want to get super elegant you can take the tip of a knife and swirl it gently through the creme to make a little design. It's kind of like Spin Art (remember that, all you children of the 70's?).

Anyway, I found this delicious little recipe at the Whole Foods website. Whole Foods used to be my supermarket of choice before Fairway moved to town, and then I heartlessly deserted them without so much as a backwards glance. But I still do love their website, which has a load of creative and healthy recipes. And if you don't have a Fairway near you, Whole Foods is definitely the next best thing.

So there you go, butternut chai soup. If anyone comes across a recipe for chai pizza, call me.

BUTTERNUT CHAI SOUP

• 1/2 cup crème fraîche
• 1/4 cup apple cider
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup chopped white onion
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 3 cups (1-inch cubes) butternut squash
• 3/4 cup chopped fennel
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. First, make the apple cream: combine crème fraîche, apple cider and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate to allow the flavors to combine.

2. For the soup, melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 6 minutes. Stir in cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and cardamom. Cook until fragrant, stirring constantly, about 1 minute.

3. Stir in butternut squash, fennel, chicken stock and apple cider. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook until the butternut squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Take from heat and let cool.

4. Blend the soup in small batches until a smooth purée is obtained. Return to pot and stir in milk and salt. Bring soup to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more spice if desired.

5. Serve soup with a generous drizzle of apple cream.

Guest Blogger Amy Cotler: Crispy Wrap with Warm Cheese and Apple Chutney

Photograph by Amy Cotler

Okay folks, here comes another AWESOME giveaway and very special guest blog!

One of the great things about living the The Garden State is that we are surrounded by such an abundance of beautiful, fresh, local food. (I know, you thought I was going to say shopping malls and the New Jersey Turnpike, but no!) And so I was delighted to see this wonderful new book come out from chef and cookbook author and all around cool person, Amy Cotler.

I asked her if she would share with us one of her delectable recipes as a guest blog, and we are all in luck, because here it is....from the wonderful Amy Cotler!

****************

Some of the best recipes are born out of desperation. This is one,

created when I had to come up with yet another wrap for my book,

WRAP IT UP, now out of print. But here it is — a warm wrap

reborn with melty local cheese, apples, shallots and regional

cranberries. Serve as a unique cheese coarse or light meal, sliced in

half on the bias, propped up at an angle, eaten solo, or nestled in a

winter salad of shredded cabbage and carrots.

All apples work well in this wrap. And these days, local and

regionally produced mold-ripened cheeses, such as something in the

brie and camembert family, are plentiful. I found about 10 different

varieties easily at my local cheese shop, but farm stands and gourmet

markets stock them as well.

CRISPY WRAP WITH WARM CHEESE AND APPLE CHUTNEY

Makes 4, but recipe is easily doubled or halved

• l large apple, skin on, small dice
• 1-1/2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1-1/2 tablespoon dried cranberries
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• Pinch hot chili pepper flakes
• 4 medium (8-9 inch) whole wheat tortillas (or mountain bread)
• 5 ounces mold-ripened local cheese, room temperature, rind on, cut or
• torn into 12 or so pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a medium bowl combine the apple,
shallots, cranberries, vinegar, brown sugar, ginger and hot chili
pepper flakes. Let sit for 15-30 minutes to marry the flavors,
stirring occasionally to prevent browning.


2. Heat the tortillas or mountain bread, one at a time, in a large hot
cast iron skillet or directly over a gas flame, turning frequently,
just until pliable for about 10-30 seconds each.


3. Lay out the tortillas on the counter. Scatter 3 pieces of cheese in
the center of each. Top each with 1/4 of the apple chutney. Fold in
the sides and wrap. (At this point you can make them about an hour
before cooking.)


4. Lightly oil a baking sheet and place in the oven for 5 minutes.
Carefully add the wraps, seam side down, and bake until crisp on one
side. Turn and bake until the second side is crisp, about l0 minutes
total. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Serve hot
or warm, cut in half on the bias with a serrated knife.

Click here for printable recipe

Winter goodies?
In the northeast this is the time of year we mourn the loss of
anything that springs from mother earth. But there's still plenty to
choose from. So don't forget maple syrup, eggs, milk, cheese,
sustainable raised meat of all kinds (usually frozen), sustainably
raised or caught fish, winter squashes, root veggies and more....

**************

And if that scrumptious recipe isn't enough, here is more wonderfulness: I have a copy of Amy's fabulous book, THE LOCAVORE WAY, to give away! Next Saturday I will pick one lucky random winner who will get a copy of this great book. To enter, just leave me a comment telling me what your own favorite local food is. Mine is definitely the herbs I grow right outside my back door so that I can just run outside and pick 'em when I need 'em! (A reminder to my beloved email subscribers -- click on the post title at the top of the page to get to the web page where you can comment).

Thanks Amy! Local food rocks!

Pumpkin Apple Walnut Stuffed French Toast

This recipe is the living breathing proof that you can find a good recipe pretty much anywhere you go if you just pay attention. I work in the heart of midtown Manhattan, and every morning instead of doing the healthy, responsible thing and walking from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to my office, I hop into a taxi. It's my one commuting indulgence -- I don't stop at Starbucks, I don't pick up a giant New York City bagel with cream cheese (although I WANT to. I really do.) But I do jump right into that cab every morning.

And those of you lucky to have taken a New York taxi lately know that they have installed these little television screens in the back of each one. They give you the weather (thank you!), a lot of ads (really??? I really have to listen to ads on my cab ride, too??) and every once in a while, a little news story that you are actually interested in. Last week it was a story about this wonderful-sounding restaurant called The Turning Point, located on the New Jersey shore. (Or as we native New-Jerseyites say, "down the shore.") The story focussed on their pumpkin-stuffed french toast, and it had me paying rapt attention in the back of my cab at 7am in the morning....which means, it looked like some rocking good french toast. So later that day I tracked down the recipe, which was a bit more complicated than anything I want to attempt on a weekday, but gave me the basis for a pretty delicious streamlined version. And you know me....breakfast for dinner is my idea of heaven. This particular recipe is like French Toast meets Pumpkin Pie, and when topped with a good dollop of whipped cream and cinnamon sugar....ahhhhhhhhhh.

So thanks, Annoying New York City Taxi TV! You finally paid off. Now please stop running all those ads for the new Jay Leno show and we'll be all set.

PUMPKIN APPLE WALNUT STUFFED FRENCH TOAST, adapted heavily from this version from The Turning Point.

Makes 2 servings.

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/8 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsps vanilla

1 Tbs cream cheese

2 Tbs applesauce

1/8 cup chopped walnuts

4 slices sandwich bread

1. Combine all ingredients except bread, eggs and milk and mix thoroughly.

2. · Spread pumpkin mixture on bread and put bread slices together sandwich style.

3. Mix eggs and milk together in shallow bowl

4. Soak sandwiches on both sides in egg/mil mixture.

5. Heat frying pan or griddle over medium-high heat, grease with about 1 tablespoon of butter.

6. Cook sandwiches on griddle until both sides are lightly toasted.

7. Serve with maple syrup and fresh whipped cream. I like to shake cinnamon sugar on the top of mine.

Click here for printable recipe

Caramel Apple Cake

Apples, cinnamon, walnuts, cake, caramel glaze. That's all I have to say, right? I have you at those four items and hello? This recipe certainly had ME at hello. I found it in the Costco Connection magazine, which just goes to show you that Costco does, indeed, have everything that anyone could possibly want, including a fabulous recipe for a rich, tender, sweet apple cake that will make your whole kitchen smell like a happy autumn day.

I should warn you that like most things associated with Costco, this is not only wonderful but, well, LARGE. Which is not at all a bad thing in terms of making friends...I sent the generous Southern husband into work with a lot of it the next day, and he said it was a big hit. The cake part is lovely -- moist and sweet and packed with apples. But let's face it...the captivating part of this particular baby is the caramel glaze. When you are done with the cake and it has cooled a bit, you make the glaze (out of butter and sugar and cream -- are you panting yet?)...but wait, it gets better. Before you pour the glaze over the cake, you take a skewer and you poke holes all over the top of the cake, so that when you pour the glaze over it, not only does it coat the top of the cake, but it also sinks down into the middle of the cake via all those little holes.

I know, it's almost too much to think about without fainting.

So there you go, from me and my friends at Costco (who in case you missed it the last hundred times I have mentioned it, sell the BEST shrimp I have ever tasted in my life. And please don't get me started on their chocolate chip cookies.) Caramel Apple Cake. Go make some.

CARAMEL APPLE CAKE, from Costco Connection magazine

Cake:

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

Caramel Glaze:

4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a 13x9 inch pan.

2. Beat both sugars and oil in mixing bowl until well-blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Gradually add to sugar mixture until just blended. Stir in apples, nuts and vanilla and pour into pan.

4. Bake for 50-75 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan while making glaze.

5. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Stir in both sugars and salt and cook over medium low heat for 2 minutes. Add cream and boil for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly.

6. Poke holes in cake with skewer. Pour on the glaze. Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if you like.

Click here for printable recipe.

Apple Dumplings, and the Winners Are...

Yes, those are what you think they are...the Pioneer Woman's famous apple dumplings...made with crescent rolls, apples, butter, sugar, and a nice dose of Mountain Dew. They are sinfully, outrageously, spectacularly good...no surprise since pretty much everything she makes falls into this same category.

As I hope you have heard at this point, you too can get your mitts on a wonderful collection of Pioneer Woman recipes, along with a good dose of her warm and hilarious writing and page after page of her gorgeous photographs in her new cookbook.

As you may have heard, I got my OWN mitts on three copies of this fab cookbook, and asked you guys to leave a comment on my Sesame Noodles post suggesting something for me to make and photograph. And as a result, I have tons of great suggestions...and three lucky winners! As a matter of fact, there were SO many wonderful comments that I had to enlist the helpful Southern husband to close his eyes and pick the winners. And they are...

Katie, who suggested lasagne. I can't believe I haven't done a lasagne yet. One lasagne coming up.

Leah, who suggested making something for the dog. Okay Leah, how much did the dog PAY you?? But seriously...what a fun idea! And I actually do have a dog biscuit recipe. It's at the very, very back of my stack of all the people recipes. I'll move it on up.

And finally, Jenny, who suggested that I try the Pastor Ryan's Carbonara on the Pioneer Woman site. Jenny, I made this tonight, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I've made a lot of carbonaras along the way, but this one is honestly, truly, amazingly better than any of those other ones in my past. I'll put it on the blog very soon...I did get a pretty sweet picture of it.

I wish I had a copy of this gorgeous cookbook for everyone who commented, and I will definitely be trying a lot of your great ideas...and doing more cookbook giveaways in the future, so keep visiting! Thanks for your comments, every one of them, and click here for more info on this rocking great cookbook:

THE PIONEER WOMAN COOKS!

And try the apple dumpling recipe. You simply won't believe your tastebuds....

APPLE DUMPLINGS, from The Pioneer Woman

2 Granny Smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
cinnamon
12 ounces Mountain Dew

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Click here for printable recipe

Ham with Chunky Apple Walnut Cranberry Sauce

Fall is really here, and all those summer tomatoes, all that never-ending basil, the sweet corn...it's all a memory now. But that's okay, because now we have butternut squash, and pumpkin, and apples, apples, apples. And they aren't just for dessert, no ma'am. This super-quick recipe is a luxurious tasting number that would be perfectly wonderful on a holiday table if you used a spiral cut ham...but this version uses ham steaks and therefore cooks up in about 10 minutes. The absolute longest and most challenging part is cutting up the apple (which you don't even need to peel -- we are talking coring and chopping only).

I like to get the large ham steaks -- usually sold next to the bacon in the supermarket -- and I cut them into quarters and pop them right into a non-stick skillet over medium low heat. They are fully cooked so you are just looking to heat them through and maybe get a little bit of brown on them. If you are feeling really feisty, you can send your significant other out into the brisk fall evening to grill them. Whatever way you choose to heat them up is just fine with me.

Meantime, you can throw together this chunky sauce in just about the amount of time it takes to heat up the ham. Chopped walnuts are browned briefly in butter, and then you quickly cook up the apples, with some dried cranberries, maple syrup and brown sugar. It all combines into a syrupy, succulent sauce that you ladle over your ham slice (here comes that sweet and salty combo that I love so much!) to make a quick and happy dinner that practically sings "Fall is here!" It's enough to make you not even miss those summer tomatoes. Well...almost.

HAM WITH CHUNKY APPLE WALNUT CRANBERRY SAUCE

Serves 3-4

• 1 large ham steak
• 1 medium apple, cored and chopped
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Heat ham over medium low heat in large skillet until heated through and slightly browned.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in medium skillet over medium high heat and add walnuts. Stir until walnuts are browning, about 2-3 minutes.

3. Add apple, walnuts, cranberries, syrup and brown sugar. Bring to boil and stir until sugar is dissolved and apple softens slightly, about 3 minutes.

4. Place ham slices on plates and ladle sauce over top. Serve immediately.

Click here for printable recipe

Chicken with Apples and Sage

Summer is slowly fading away, the evenings are getting brisk, and that always makes me think of apples and pumpkins and butternut squash...mmmmmm. Autumn comfort food, it's the best. This snazzy little recipe is another one adapted from Mark Bittman's newest book, KITCHEN EXPRESS. Which I am developing a love-hate relationship with, because as I mentioned in an earlier post, it is not a collection of recipes, but more a description of quick dishes that can be assembled in 20 minutes or less. Sometimes he gives instructions on the ingredient proportions. Sometimes not.

To which I say: AAARRRGGGHHH!

Okay, I feel better now. I forgive you, Mark, because the ideas for these quick meals are so wonderful and creative. So as a service to all humankind, I am trying out my favorites and creating the Actual Recipes that go with them. This one is a sauteed chicken with an apple and sage sauce created from chicken broth, butter and a little brown sugar, served on a bed of buttered noodles. Truly ready in less than 20 minutes, and delish.

CHICKEN WITH APPLES AND SAGE

Adapted from KITCHEN EXPRESS by Mark Bittman

Serves 4

• 
  
• 4 chicken breasts, pounded to a thickness of about 1/2 inch
• 2 apples, cored, peeled and sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped sage
• Cooked buttered egg noodles

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat and brown chicken breasts on both sides, approximately four minutes per side. Set aside.

2. Add butter to skillet and heat until melted. Add apples, shallot and brown sugar and cook for three minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add chicken broth, vinegar and sage and cook until sauce reduces slightly, about 2 minutes.

4. Return chicken pan with any accumulated juices and cook until chicken is heated through and sauce is slightly more reduced, about 2-5 minutes.

5. Serve chicken and apples over buttered noodles with pan sauce poured on top.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ethan Allen Sandwiches

Yes, I am still working my way through my post-vacation "cook every great thing I had to eat while in Vermont" syndrome. I think this might be the end of it, but it is a delicious and easy one. I should begin by saying I am a big fan of The Grilled Cheese Sandwich. If a grilled cheese sandwich ever runs for public office, I will vote for it. They are crunchy and creamy and comforting and classic. So whenever I see an unusual one on the menu, I just can't resist.


So when we were at the Little Rooster Cafe in Manchester, Vt, they had a grilled cheese sandwich on the menu that was named the Ethan Allen. I'm not sure why, unless he was also a big fan of grilled cheese, but whatever. It featured Vermont cheddar grilled with a thick layer of thin-sliced ham and slices of Granny Smith apple. Mouth-watering, right? It had my name on it, so I ordered it. Okay, it had Ethan Allen's name on it, but I still ordered it. And when it came it was a wonderful mix of the sweet apple with the savory cheese and ham. The only thing I changed when I made my version above was to cut down on the amount of ham -- I used just a few slices, so as to have an equal balance of the three flavors.

So this concludes my retrospective of Meals I Ate On My Vermont Vacation. We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

ETHAN ALLEN SANDWICHES

Makes one terrific sandwich. Can be doubled, or tripled, or quadrupled, etc. Sandwiches are great that way.

• Two slices country bread (I used ciabiatta bread)
• 1/4 cup shredded Vermont cheddar
• 2-4 slices thin-sliced ham (or more, if you want)
• 3 thin slices Granny Smith apple
• Butter

1. Preheat griddle or skillet over medium heat
2. Butter one side of bread
3. With butter side down, layer one half of cheese, then all the ham, then all the apple, then the remaining cheese on bread slice. Place second slice of bread butter side up over all.
4. Place sandwich on griddle and toast over medium heat until golden brown, pressing down firmly with spatula several times.
5. Flip sandwich over carefully and toast on second side until golden.
6. Slice sandwich in half and serve immediately.

Chicken Salad with Apple and Basil

Chicken salad is one of those recipes like meatloaf, or macaroni and cheese, where I always think there might be a better version out there. So whenever I run across another one I try it, because you never know if the grass might be greener on the other side of the chicken salad fence.

This particular version is adapted from one of my other favorite magazines (and the only other one that I have a subscription to), and that is REAL SIMPLE. If my life as I fantasize about it could be turned into a magazine it would be this one. "Simplify," one of the most beautiful words in a working mother's life. For me it ranks up there with the words "nap" and "summer Friday." Anyway, this recipe is a nice light mayo-free chicken salad that has the extra added attraction of having a lot of basil as one of the ingredients. I love basil, and I plant it every spring, and it starts out looking all nice and well behaved, like this:

And several weeks later it is 15 feet tall and threatening to move into the house.

Anyway, this nice recipe calls for poaching the chicken, and I've included that part in the directions below, but my usual approach to chicken salad is to make grilled chicken with something else earlier in the week and to throw a few extra chicken breasts on the grill. Pop them in the fridge and then this recipe will go even faster a couple of days later.

So for those of you, like me, who never met a chicken salad recipe you didn't like, here's another good one for your collection.

CHICKEN SALAD WITH APPLE AND BASIL

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from 2-3 limes)
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
• 2 tablespoons sliced mint
• 1/2 cup chopped basil
• 
  

1. Pound chicken thin, place in saucepan and cover with water. Add 3 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to low boil. Cook until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to bowl of ice water for 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine lime juice, vinegar and sugar in large bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add scallions and apples and toss.

3. Dry chicken and shred into bite size pieces. Add to bowl with peanuts, mint and basil, along with remaining salt and pepper. Toss and serve.