Jenn’s Cook Book

There are tons of recipes out there for Baked Apples, so I’m certainly not reinventing the wheel here, but I did try my own take on a Fall classic. The original recipe came from Real Simple magazine, using nuts, brown sugar, and butter. I jazzed it up with some raisins, cinnamon, and a topping of caramel sauce. This would also be great with walnuts and dried cherries or sliced almonds and dried apricots, but I decided on chopped pecans and raisins. You could also substitute cardamon or ginger for cinnamon. Use firm apples that are good for baking such as Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Northern Spy, or Braeburn.

8 large apples, such a Braeburn
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup raisins or other dried fruit
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt  
4 tbsp butter
caramel sauce or topping

Preheat oven to 400F

Rinse apples in cool water and pat dry. Using a melon baller, scoop out core of apples leaving about 3/4 inch at the bottom.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, nuts, raisins, cinnamon, and salt. Spoon mixture into each apple. Top each apple with 1/2 tbsp butter. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until apples are tender. Sprinkle water on the apples if too dry.

To serve, cut apples in half and drizzle with caramel sauce.

Shown below, drizzled with caramel sauce:

Here is an Autumn spice mixture that can be used in pies, cookies, cake, and other desserts. The recipe comes from the book Herb Mixtures & Spicy Blends, which is a compilation of herb and spice mixtures from around the country. This mixture was provided by Cricket Hill Herb Farm.

5 tbsp ground cinnamon
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix. Store in an air-tight jar in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. Mix will last at least 6 months and up to a year if properly sealed and stored.

When I made the Apples Roasted with Root Vegetables, there was enough to feed a small army! I still had half of it left in the refrigerator, and decided to turn it into soup! You could either follow the original recipe and reserve half, or follow the recipe below if you just want to make the soup.

Here is the recipe, halved:

1 1/2 cups tart apples, cored and cut into wedges
1 cup carrots, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch thick rounds
1/2 medium onion, cut into wedges
1/2 lb small red skin potatoes, cut into quarters
1 large sweet potatoes, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 cups parsnips, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch chunks 
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp dried thyme or 1/2 tsp fresh chopped thyme
1/4 tsp salt

For soup, add:
2 tsp minced garlic
4-5 cups water or chicken stock
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of red pepper

Preheat oven to 425F

Combine apples, carrots, onion, red skin potatoes, sweet potatoes, and parsnips in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, thyme,  and salt. Toss to coat and spread vegetables evenly on a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and beginning to caramelize. 

Saute garlic over medium heat in a large saucepan for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Add 4 cups chicken stock or water, plus nutmeg and red pepper. Bring to a boil.

Add reserved vegetables. Simmer until the vegetables are warm (if using leftovers). Blend in batches, filling the blender halfway each time. Combine batches in a clean pot and add additional water or stock if too thick. Top with fresh ground black pepper.   

Shown below, garnished with a cinnamon stick:

Based on a tasty Fall recipe from www.MichiganApples.com, this dish combines tart apples with onions, potatoes, carrots and parsnips with light seasoning. The original recipe called for all of the apples and vegetables to be peeled, but I feel that peeling vegetables is a bit of a waste. I did peel the carrots and parsnips, but I wasn’t meticulous about it - a little bit of peel isn’t going to hurt anything. The recipe makes about 8 servings, so it can easily be halved if that is too much food.

3 cups tart apples, cored and cut into wedges
2 cups carrots, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch thick rounds
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1 lb small red skin potatoes, cut into quarters
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 cups parsnips, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch chunks 
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper 

Preheat oven to 425F

Combine apples, carrots, onion, red skin potatoes, sweet potatoes, and parsnips in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Toss to coat and spread vegetables evenly on a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and beginning to caramelize. Remove from oven and serve.   

Root vegetables on a baking sheet:

Bake and serve:

Appropriately, this recipe is from the Fall section of Everyday Food: Great Food Fast. Sweet potatoes are roasted in the over with some festive spices then combined with fresh pears. Again, select pears that are just ripe (not over-ripe) so they maintain their shape.

2 sweet potatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne (red) pepper
pinch of salt
2 Bartlett pears

Preheat oven to 400F

Wash and scrub potatoes. Quarter lengthwise and cut into 1 1/2 inch-long sections. Toss with 2 tbsp olive oil, ground mustard, ginger, pepper, and salt. Spread in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet or roasted pan. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until potatoes are almost tender.

Quarter pears and scope out the core. Cut in quarters in half crosswise. Toss with potatoes and remaining 1 tbsp olive oil. Return to oven for an additional 10 minutes or until pears are warmed through and potatoes are tender. Serve immediately.  

Another adventure in Autumn’s produce, this soup combines rich butternut squash and tart Golden Delicious apples with a touch of curry and cinnamon. The produce used below was grown locally. There were several recipes online for this type of soup, but none really matched what I was looking for, so this is more of an original creation with a little help. Great for a rainy day! This is also going to be Turmeric-mania Recipe #8.

1 butternut squash, peeled and seeded, cut into 1-inch chunks
3-4 small or medium tart apples, peeled and cored, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tbsp butter or oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 cups vegetable stock (chicken broth can be used instead)

In a large stockpot over medium heat, melt butter or heat oil and add onion and garlic. Saute 3-5 minutes until tender and fragrant. Add salt, curry powder, and cinnamon. Saute 2-3 additional minutes.

Add vegetable (or chicken) stock, butternut squash, and apples. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 25-30 minutes, until squash and apples are tender.

Working in batches, puree soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Reheat if necessary. Serve with roasted pumpkin seeds and a pinch of nutmeg (if desired).

From Everyday Food magazine, this recipe combines seasonal pears with crisp amaretti cookies and rich mascarpone cheese. Select pears that are just ripe in order to keep the best shape. Pears ripen best after they have been picked, so purchase under-ripe pears a few days prior to making this dish and store the pears at room temperature, standing upright. To speed things up, add an apple. The skin will change from bright red or green to a dull yellow-red or -green when ripe.

4 firm, ripe Bartlett pears, red or green
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
amaretti cookies (Italian almond macaroons)

Preheat oven to 375F

Halve pears lengthwise and use a melonballer or spoon to remove core. In a baking dish or roasting pan, toss pears with sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Arrange pears in a single layer, cut side down.

Pour 1/4 cup water over pears and cover dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until pears are tender. The skins will begin to turn amber.

To serve, place a pear half cut side up on a plate and top with a tablespoon of mascarpone cheese. Crumble 1-2 amaretti cookies on top.

Now that the days are getting shorter and colder, it is time to shift the ingredients used in Jenn’s Cook Book to Fall. There is still plenty of fresh produce available, but these fruits and vegetables will be a bit heartier than the light tastes of summer. Recipes containing fresh, seasonal produce for Fall will now be in the new category Autumnal Delights. Like the Farmer’s Market category, this will include main dishes, sides, desserts or beverages made with Autumn’s most abundant produce. Below, I have compiled a list of some of Fall’s most popular items (with help from Real Simple magazine, Simply in Season, and Everyday Food).

Apples: varieties include Honey Crisp and Red Delicious, which are great eating out of hand, and MacIntosh, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith, which are slightly tart and great for baking. Although apples are usually available year-round, Michigan might as well be called Apple Country in the Fall. Look for apples in soups, baked desserts, and roasted with root vegetables or tenderloin.

Cabbage: available in red or green in the fall, and great for salads, soups, and slaws.

Carrots: another item usually available year-round that gets a spotlight in Autumn. Carrots are great in roasts, in soups, and in salads.

Cauliflower: look for bright white cauliflower, or new golden yellow or purple varieties as well. Both cauliflower and it’s green cousin broccoli flourish in the Autumn months. Try these crunchy veggies raw, roasted, or steamed.

Grapes: look for red, green, globe, concord and more (seedless or not). I love grapes, but I do not believe they are in any recipe on the website (unless you count raisins). Like apples, Michigan has tons of great grape varieties, especially with all of the lake-shore vineyards. I may try out grapes in some baked desserts.

Leeks: another item not yet found on Jenn’s Cook Book. Look for leeks possibly in soups or mixed with root vegetables for the Fall.

Mushrooms: really, always available but considered an Autumn item. Mushrooms are probably one of my favorite things to throw into a recipe, so there is a wide variety of recipes to come!

Parsnips: a root vegetable that looks like a pale carrot. Again, there are no recipes yet on the website to go with this Fall vegetable, but I definitely have plans for the parsnip.

Pears: Fall favorite, look for Anjou, Bartlett, or Bosc varieties, which hold there shape well when cooking. Pears need time to ripe, so purchase a few days before using. Pears are great for Autumn desserts, as well as tossed with roasted vegetables and pureed in soups. They are also delicious to eat out of hand, like apples.

Persimmons: a fruit I am not familiar with, but will be available in the Fall. This may or may not make it into some recipes.

Pomegranates: already featured on the website in juice form, fresh pomegranates will be available through winter (a great holiday fruit).

Sweet Potatoes: sometimes labeled yams by mistake, these orange potatoes are great broiled, baked, or roasted. This is one vegetable that can be used in both sweet and savory applications.

Winter Squash: includes Acorn, Butternut, Buttercup, and Pumpkins. Winter squash have tough skins, unlike summer squash like zucchini and yellow squash that have edible skins, and take much longer to cook. Varieties like butternut or pumpkin can be used in sweet dishes as well as savory. Look for cooking methods that take little preparation but longer time, like baking, roasting, simmering, or steaming. Also unlike summer squash, winter squash have seeds that should be removed before cooking.

Seasonal Flavors: with heartier produce comes heartier herbs for Autumn, such as bay leaf, coriander, rosemary, sage, savory, and thyme. Also look for strong spices like cinnamon, cloves, curry, ginger, nutmeg, paprika, and turmeric. Other seasonal flavors include caramel, fennel, hazelnut, and pecan. Also look for chick peas, lentils, and red onions.