If you are not lucky enough to have effective cold storage, your harvest supply of apples may be looking a little tired right now. If so, I have two fantastic recipes that take advantage of less than perfect, small, slightly shriveled apples that you might be tempted to compost.
Also, I made tarte tatin recently with a fresh supply of delicious coastal apples that were perfectly ripe, and freshly picked. The recipe was from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook and is available at the Pemberton Library. I adapted her Pate Brisee recipe by using spelt flour and the results were tasty!
We are also onto the “dregs” of cricket chirping. Cricket chirping is one of my favourite sounds. They started in late July and almost mid-October I hear a forlorn cricket or two at night. They sound kind of lonely. Cheers to the persistent crickets who usher in shorter days and frosty weather.
Here are two recipes to use when you have processed all your nice large apples and are left with tiny ones that aren’t much use. These recipes just call for tiny pieces of apple and you don’t need to peel them first. Also the tuna patties are super quick, and also portable for lunch on the go. The rice pudding recipe is cooked for 6 hours in the slow cooker and is so easy and a real treat on a frosty evening. One is fast, one is slow, but both simple and easy.
Quick Tuna Burger Patties:
2 cans drained flaked tuna in water
¼ cup real mayonnaise
¼ cup almond meal
1 egg
1 tbs Dijon mustard
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper, or to taste
¼ cup chopped fresh dill
¼ cup finely chopped apple, unpeeled
Method:
Mix all ingredients together and form into 6 patties. Fry on medium low heat in 2-3 tbs olive oil until nicely browned on each side. The longer they cook, the better they will hold together so don’t rush the frying.
Slow Cooker Rice Pudding:
2.5 cups whole milk
½ cup whipping cream
1/3 cup Arborio rice
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup white sugar
½ cup finely chopped apple, no need to peel first!
1 tsp vanilla
Method:
Place all ingredients in a 2 quart soufflé dish and put that dish into a slow cooker crock. Cover with lid and cook on LOW for 6 hours. (Do not cook on high heat as the milk won’t cook as nicely.)
Tarte Tatin recipe can be found in Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook, published by Clarkson Potter and available at Pemberton Library.
Rice pudding prior to cooking
Tarte Tatin: doesn’t look as good as a slice of pie, but the flavour is rich and texture is dense!
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