APPLE CRISP

When apples are harvested in Massachusetts, there are some lovely choices for traditional desserts.  Apple Crisp was my mother's favorite.  This is her recipe...

Ingredients:

5 to 6 tart apples
1/2 cup of dark molasses
1/2 cup of superfine sugar
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
1/2 tsp. of nutmeg
juice of one lemon
1/2 stick of melted butter

1 1/2 cups of Bisquick
1/2 stick of butter at room temp
pinch of sugar and salt
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
1/2 tsp. of nutmeg


Peel, core and slice apples.  Place in a deep bowl.  Add molasses, superfine sugar, cinammon, nutmeg, lemon juice and butter.  Let the fruit soak in the juices for about 30 minutes to develop flavor.

Butter and sugar an 8" x 8" square pan.  After soaking time, put apples in bottom of pan.

Preheat oven to 400F while preparing the covering.

In a deep bowl, combine Bisquick, butter, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Mix with fork and spoon over the apples.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until crust is golden brown.  Serve with freshly whipped cream.

 



Savory Pot Pie

 

Savory pot pie can be a culinary challenge since the dough must be made properly to develop the layer of flavors necessary to raise the bar on pot pie.  To make the dough more tasty, I used beef suet instead of lard for this crust and made an infusion of rosemary and chicken broth for the dough liquid.  I allowed the dough to refrigerate overnight to get a little more flavor and made the pastry dough with a combination of butter and suet.  I used some of the leftover pot roast and threw in fresh corn.  The result was really good.

 

Pastry:

 3 ounces of suet

3 ounces of butter
2 cups of self-rising flour
Salt and pepper

A little combination of rosemary infused chicken broth (as needed)

Cut the fats into the flour.  Add salt and pepper and drizzle the broth in as your food processor churns the dough.  Turn the dough into a buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least eight hours.

Pie:

Warm the leftover pot roast to room temperature.  Preheat oven to 400F.

Roll out pastry dough and put on the bottom of a pie plate.  Cut pot roast into cubes.  Cover with corn.  Add dots of butter.  Cover with leftover gravy.  Roll out top crust and set over the pie plate.  Pinch edges of the dough.  Spray with butter flavored Pam.  Bake for 30 minutes or more until crust is golden brown.