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: Cranberry Rosemary Muffins

Several months ago I had breakfast at a restaurant called The Curious Palate in Mar Vista (Venice).  If you're even in that area I highly recommend you check them out, they're all about farm to table, and you know how much I love that!  Anyway, we had breakfast, everything was delicious.  They had these muffins and I've been looking for a recipe but I haven't been able to find one, so after experimenting a little bit, this is what I came up with.  Let me know what you think.  A Votre Sante!

Cranberry Rosemary Muffins

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 unbleached flour
1 egg
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp orange rind
3/4 tsp salt
2-3 tsp fresh rosemary
3/4 fresh squeezed orange juice
1 cup chopped cranberries

Topping:
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin pan with muffin liners.

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients and the orange rind.  In a separate large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, beat in the egg and then the orange juice.  Add the dry ingredients one cup at a time until just incorporated.  Fold in the chopped cranberries.  Scoop into muffin cups.  In a small bowl mix the brown sugar, flour and rosemary, cut in the butter until mixture is crumbly.  Sprinkle tops with brown sugar mixture.

Bake at for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Recipe of the week: Cranberry Bread

I love baking for the holidays!  Cranberries are only in season this time of year so I try to buy a few bags and freeze them.  This is one of my favorite recipes and I'd say, hands down it's the one people ask me for the most.  It's great by itself or with cream cheese on it.  I love to put it on holiday goodie platters because it's pretty.  I usually use one cup of unbleached and one cup of whole wheat flour.  Let me know what you think. A Votre Sante!

Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1-2 Tbsp orange rind
3/4 cup orange juice
1 cup golden raisins
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cranberries
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix the dry ingredients together into one bowl.  Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir egg with orange rind and orange juice.  Blend mixture into flour mixture, stir until just moistened.  Fold in cranberries, raisins and nuts.
Spoon into 2 small greased loaf pans or 2 large one.  Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 75 minutes.  Sixty  minutes for 2 loaves and 75 for 1...or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan for at least 5 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack.  Store wrapped, wait 12-24 hours before slicing.