Recipe of the week: Homemade apple chips

Panera Bread has a salad called the fuji apple chicken salad and I love it.  On the top it has fuji apple chips and it makes the salad.  Unfortunately most apple chips have sulfur dioxide, corn syrup, and some kind of oil in them.  Trust me, I've read all the labels.  So after the last time I had this lovely salad and Panera, I came home and tried making apple chips, they came out pretty good (they must have if they were gone in less the 24 hours).  The key to getting them crisp is slicing them really thin.  I have a mandolin slicer and set it to the thinnest setting.  Be careful with these, they are wicked sharp!  You could sprinkle a little sugar or drizzle a little honey on the apples if you like, I didn't and they were plenty sweet for me.  You can use any kind of apple you like, I used a couple of red delicious, granny smith, and fuji.  I sprayed my cookie sheets with coconut oil spray (available at Trader Joe's). Let me know what you think.  A Votre Sante.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

4-6 apples of your choice thinly sliced
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 Tbsp sugar (optional)

In a large bowl toss the apples with lemon juice and cinnamon (sugar if you're using it).  Arrange the apple slices on cookie sheets without over lapping.  I used 2 cookie sheets, bake for one hour.  Flip the apples over and switch the cookie sheets so the top one is now on the bottom and the bottom one is on the top.  Bake for another hour.  Turn the oven off and let them cool in the oven, they will crisp up faster that at room temperature.  Take the apple chips off the cookie sheets and store in an airtight container (if they make it that far!)  Enjoy.

Recipe of the week: Autumn Fruit Crisp

Fall is my favorite season and this has all the wonderful flavors of fall and will make your house smell amazing!  You need a large deep dish pan for this (I used a super stone pan I got a long time ago from Pampered Chef.)   Thanksgiving is just around the corner and this is a great alternative to pie.  Let me know what you think.  A Votre Sante!  (This is the recipe I submitted to Whole Foods but I'm not sure it made it, seems like there was a glitch with their system.)

6-7 cups sliced granny smith apples (about 3 large, I peeled half and left the peel on the other half)
4 cups sliced bartlett pears
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cranberries
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup  organic rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1/2  cup whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  
In a large bowl combine apples, pears and cranberries, toss with lemon juice and granulated sugar.  For the topping, in a medium bowl combine the oats, flour, brown sugar and spices.  Cut in butter until the texture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the walnuts.  Place 1/2 of the fruit in a large baking dish, sprinkle 1/2 of the topping over fruit.  Top with the remainder of the fruit and the the rest of the topping.  Bake crisp at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until fruit is tender and the topping is golden.  Serve with vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt or whipped cream.  Serves 8.

Recipe of the week: Spicy Peanut Sauce

I've been making this sauce for a long time....the first time I made it was over spring break my junior year of high school in Park City, Utah (my dad and I were there skiing for the week). You can use this on stir fries, marinate chicken in it or use as a base for Pad Thai. I usually use unfiltered apple juice in the jar, this time I juiced an apple. For those who have an allergy to peanuts you can use almond butter or any nut butter. I used raw peanut butter that I made myself and Mother's Market but you can use any kind you like. Let me know what you think. A Votre Sante!


3/4 to 1 cup of apple juice
1/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or creamy
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
salt to taste

Pour the apple juice in a sauce pan, add the peanut butter and stir until smooth, add pepper and salt. Serve while warm over vegetables or refrigerate and use as a marinade or dipping sauce. Enjoy.

Recipe of the week: Apple Almond Gingerbread

I saw this on Whole Food's website yesterday and thought it looked yummy. (Apples, almonds, gingerbread....what's not to like!) I made it last night and it came out great, and it smelled wonderful baking...all the flavors of fall. I followed the recipe exactly (probably a first), next time I'll add more ginger and I'm sure you could use pecans or walnuts if you don't like almonds. Let me know what you think. A Votre Sante!

Apple Almond Gingerbread

Ingredients
5 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for greasing
3/4 cup slivered almonds, divided*
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons lowfat buttermilk
1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
11/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 Fuji or Gala apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch loaf pan with butter. Put 1/4 cup almonds in bottom of pan and then rotate pan to distribute them around the bottom and sides (they’ll stick to the greased pan); set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, molasses, sugar, butter, vanilla and egg. In a second large bowl, combine flour, ginger, baking soda and remaining 1/2 cup almonds. Add apples and toss well. Stir flour mixture into molasses mixture and then spoon batter into pan. Bake until cooked through and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes and then invert onto a plate and serve warm or at room temperature.