Apple Matzo Kugel

Well so much for the week of Passover recipes I planned! Big blog intentions, little follow through. But this post will wrap up Passover belatedly and then onto new and exciting non holiday related recipes. Though I also wanted to make hot cross buns for Easter. I’ve never had one and the recipes I saw floating around last week looked delicious. So there may be one more belated holiday recipe coming!

This is a great kugel! You can hardly taste the matzo – it tastes more like a bread pudding. Really really good bread pudding. I think it would work really well for a brunch. The dish is sweet, but overly so. I cut down the sugar because there are 12 pages of comments about this recipe and nearly all of them suggested cutting the sugar. This recipe is why I love the internet – 12 pages of comments are awesome and really helped to fine tune this recipe.

A few notes. One comment suggested 1 cup of nuts on top. I forgot to add them, but I think walnuts would go wonderfully with this recipe. Another comment suggested adding some lemon juice and zest to the apples, which was another great idea I forgot to incorporate. If your apples (or any fruit) taste less than ideal, lemon juice and zest always perk things up. This recipe reheats very well, which is good since it would feed a small army. The recipe does call for a scary amount of eggs, but keep in mind that it serves 12. Finally, be sure to use a large bowl to mix everything together. As you can see from the photo, I did not and things came dangerously close to a kitchen disaster.

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Caramelized Onion Tart With Apple

I have recently become obsessed with puff pastry. Obsessed. I’ve gone through almost three boxes in a week. I’ve been thinking about making it from scratch, but it seems excessively complicated. I’m all for making things from scratch (I loved making my own butter and I want to try yogurt one day), but making puff pastry really seems insane.

So I’ve been buying Pepperidge Farms. Yes, I am aware that every magazine/chef/blogger raves about Dufour Pastry. Yes, I’m sure the Resident Frenchman would like my puff pastry creations even more if they were Dufour based. But it is literally twice the price. Ten dollars a box. That is insane! So Pepperidge Farms it is.

But yes there is a recipe in here. A very tasty one. I almost made this onion-y delicousness as a Superbowl appetizer, but I ran out of time, so I made it as a side for what was a very disappointing roast chicken dinner. It totally made the meal, as it is super delicious. I adore crème fraîche, and the apples and onions melded perfectly together. Though really you can put almost anything on puff pastry and it will taste good. Even if it isn’t Dufour.

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Potato Latkes

Happy Hanukkah!

Recently, there have been all these recipes for “healthy latkes” or “foodie latkes” involving zucchini, oats, spaghetti squash and other blasphemous ingredients. This is unacceptable. Latkes should be as simple as possible. My only concession to these ridiculous trends is including apples. Which isn’t even that much of a concession, as much as a compliment to the apple sauce.

But whatever latke recipe you follow, the most important thing is to eliminate as much water as possible from the potatoes. I used paper towels, but next year I might invest in a cheesecloth, as I have heard very good things about their wringing qualities. The next important thing is to use a cast iron pan. Sadly, I did not and I missed it. Cast iron is perfect for frying, it really retains heat and browns the latkes perfectly. But it is possible to make perfectly delicious latkes in a regular non stick pan.

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Apple Cranberry Crumble Pie

The crumble on this pie was out of the world.  I was eating it straight out of the bowl…how can you resist butter, brown sugar pecans AND walnuts?  It is not possible.  Because I wasn’t working with a deep dish pie pan, I reduced the apples but did not reduce the cranberries.  This made for a tart pie.  I think you can reduce the cranberries by half and still have a delicious pie, so feel free to adapt to your taste.

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Apple Tart

This is a simple fall tart that really showcases apples. I love to make it for Rosh Hashannah for a sweet new year.

Apple Tart

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