Tag: apples

Thankful Recipes

John’s Roast Pork with Beets and Apples

by Teri Mae3 Comments on John’s Roast Pork with Beets and Apples
John’s Roast Pork with Beets and Apples

My second (and first November) Thankful recipe is dedicated to my husband.  I can’t even begin to express what he means to me or how thankful I am for him.  His steady support through all my mental health challenges, his patience with my short temper, and the wonderful father he is to our son is overwhelming.  He’s so supportive (even when it means a kitchen covered in flour and a sink piled high with the dishes of 10 baking experiments) and so kind.  He is easily the best person I know.  So this recipe, with all the amazing feelings I have for him, is dedicated to John.

Roast Pork with Beets and Applesmonster cake meter

minced sageLet’s start with the herbs.  I, when I possibly can, use fresh sage for this dish.  There are so few flavors that we want the best of the best!  It seems like this is a lot of sage, a lot of seasoning, but trust me – you’ll want it all.  We are basically making an herb crust over the pork.  So take the pork out of the fridge to take the chill off and wash the sage.  You’ll want to mince it until it’s fairly small.  To do this well simply place one hand on top of the knife near the end of the blade and rock back and forth, rotating through the pile.  Stop every few rotations to readjust and remake the pile, turn 90-180 degrees, and continue rotating to ensure that everything is minced evenly.  Put the sage, salt, and pepper in a bowl and stir and toss with your fingers to mix it thoroughly.

coat the loin

Next we’re back to the old standby – pat dry the pork and rub each side and the entire length with all the seasoning. Now, if it’s a whole pork loin it will actually be two separate loins. That’s okay, simply separate them and treat them the same.  Again, it feels like a lot, but the flavor is to die for.  Set it aside and allow it to rest.

While the pork is lightly brining (for more information about pork brines, check out this recipe) chop the beets and apples into large pieces.  I slice the beets and then cut each slice in half.  Slice the apples off the core and then cut thinly.  The onion should be sliced and then each slice quartered to leave longer pieces of onion.

sear the loin

Add oil to a heavy-bottom pan that can be used in the oven (I use a braiser) and heat on medium.  If you don’t have this you can use a regular frying pan and then an oven safe 9×13 pan.  When the oil is hot add the pork and sear on each side for 2-3 minutes.  You want the sear to be nice and strong so once it’s laying down don’t move it for the entire 2-3 minutes.  You want to see the sear cook depth when you look at the pork from the side.  Repeat on all sides and then sear the ends.  Remove from the oil and place on a plate to the side.

veggies and fruit

Next add the onions and the beets to the same pan and saute for 3-5 minutes, or until the beets have lost their extremely hard feeling.  You still want them to be hard, by the way, just not rigid.  Then add the apples and continue to saute for 2 minutes, or until all the apples are shiny.

pork on veggies and fruit

Add the pork back on the veggie/fruit mixture.  You’ll want it resting on top to prevent the juices from getting into the pork and braising instead of roasting it.  If you’re transferring everything to a 9×13 pan first lightly grease the pan, place the fruit/veggie mix in, and lay the pork on top.  Then put the whole thing in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.  At this point you’ll want to test the center of your pork with a meat thermometer.  It needs to read 145F (for medium rare) to 160F (for medium).  If it’s not quite there simply continue allowing it to roast until it reads your comfortable temperature.  Pork inherently has some kind of nasty diseases if it’s raw, so be sure to cook it properly!  I don’t want anyone getting sick on my watch!

cover with foil

When it’s ready remove the entire pan from the oven and cover with tinfoil, allowing it to rest for 5-10 minutes but not less than 5 minutes.  This is to help the juices stabilize so you don’t lose any of that flavor when you cut it.  Serve and enjoy!

pork and stuff

John's Roast Pork with Beets and Apples

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: moderately easy
  • Print

Roast pork loin with a sage herb crust with beets and apples

Ingredients

  • 1 2-3 pound pork loin
  • 5-6 large beets
  • 3 medium apples (I prefer granny smith for this recipe)
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 1/3 cup fresh sage (packed)
  • 1.5 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1.5 teaspoons black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

  1. Remove the pork out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 375F.
  2. Wash and mince the sage by placing one hand on top of the knife near the end of the blade and rocking the knife back and forth, rotating through the pile.  Stop every few rotations to readjust and remake the pile, turn 90-180 degrees, and continue rotating to ensure that everything is minced evenly.
  3. Put the sage, salt, and pepper in a bowl and stir and toss with your fingers to mix.
  4. Pat dry the pork and rub each side and the entire length with all the seasoning. Set it aside and allow it to rest.
  5. Chop the beets and apples into large pieces. Slice the beets and then cut each slice in half. Slice the apples off the core and then cut thinly. Slice the onion and then quarter the slices.
  6. Add oil to a heavy-bottom pan that is oven safe and heat on medium. (If you don’t have this you can use a regular frying pan and then an oven safe 9×13 pan.).
  7. When the oil is hot add the pork and sear on each side for 2-3 minutes.
  8. Repeat on all sides and then sear the ends.  Remove from the oil and place on a plate to the side.
  9. Add the onions and the beets to the same pan and saute for 3-5 minutes, or until the beets have lost their extremely hard feeling. (The beets should still be hard, just not rigid.).
  10. Add the apples and continue to saute for 2 minutes, or until all the apples are shiny.
  11. Add the pork back on top of the veggie/fruit mixture. Or transfer veggie/fruit mixture to a greased 9×13 pan and place the pork on top.
  12. Put the entire whole thing in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
  13. Test the center of your pork with a meat thermometer.  It needs to read 145F (for medium rare) to 160F (for medium).
  14. When it’s ready remove the entire pan from the oven and cover with tinfoil, allowing it to rest for 5-10 minutes but not less than 5 minutes.
  15. Serve and enjoy!
Recipes

Apple Pie

by Teri Mae13 Comments on Apple Pie
Apple Pie

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Autumn

Everywhere you look

There’s some rain that is falling down

And leaves that are turning brown

And pumpkin spice and sweaters all around!

So after that are you still here?  Yeah?  Well I can’t help it!  I love Autumn (or as we call it in the U.S. because American English is a pretty strange language, Fall) and it’s finally here!  Everything is cooling off, the squash are starting to ripen, apples are falling, cinnamon and nutmeg are everywhere, and the smell of wet pavement is a dream!  When things start to get chilly we naturally turn to deliciously warm food and spices to heat things up and what could possibly be better than fresh apple pie?  I submit that nothing could be… unless you don’t like pie… like me…

Apple Piemeter and time

apple pie ingredients

We start with a pie crust, technically called a short crust pastry.  There are other kinds of pastry you could use but this is a traditional and well-established method.  And since this was my very first apple pie ever, I thought we should go easy on ourselves.

Put some water into a cup and add a cube or two of ice.  The colder the water, the better the pastry will turn out.  Then let’s rub the cold butter into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs with some pea-sized chunks of butter left.  You don’t want it too fine or you won’t get a nice flaky crust!

Now for the scary part.  Once we start adding water we need to handle the dough as little as possible to get the best crust.  Start with a few tablespoons, mix it in with your hands, add a few more, mix, lather, rinse, repeat until you’ve got a dough that sticks together well but isn’t too wet.  It should be, as we say, a little shaggy, with some dried flour/butter bits still left over.  See the photo if you have questions.

shaggy dough

Lightly flour a surface and knead the dough together until it forms a cohesive mass.  Again, don’t handle it too much or it’ll be stiff and tough.  Split it so you have 1/3 and 2/3 in separate balls and wrap each in cling wrap.  Refrigerate for a while so it relaxes and doesn’t get too tough.

wrapped dough

Now let’s make the filling!

sliced applesThinly slice the apples, making sure to remove the core.  I like to leave the peel on for some added texture but if it bothers you, feel free to peel them as well.  Then add all the apples to a bowl and add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar to the apples.  Mix it around with your hands until all the apples are coated evenly and set aside.  PS – this is a pretty standard pie filling recipe but I’ve switched out the regular white sugar for brown sugar.  I’ve found it makes it a little more like caramel apples in flavor and I love it!

When the dough has chilled for about 15 minutes remove the smaller third from the fridge.  Lightly flour a surface and roll it out into a round shape large enough to drape over the edges of the pie tin you are using.  Don’t grease the tin or anything – there’s enough butter in the crust to take care of that for you!  Remove the remaining 2/3 dough from the fridge, flour your surface, and roll it out into a rectangle at least the width of the pie tin and the longest you can.  You want it as thin as you can get it because we are weaving this to match Link’s pie.  If you wind up with bits that crack don’t worry, shortcrust is super forgiving.  Just patch them up with some excess crust and roll over the top!

shortcrust rolled out

Once we have a nice rectangle cut the strips into 1 inch wide pieces.  Lightly flour another surface and let’st start weaving!  Lay out strips right next to each other the width of your pie tin.  Take leftover strips and weave them, starting from the center, through the strips you’ve laid out.  Over, under, over, under.  Take another strip and weave it the opposite way, so you’re two strips are over/under opposite one another.  Continue until you have a nice, even lattice.  If you run out of strips, no worries.  Just gather up any scraps and roll them out again.  Cut from that and you should be golden.  This crust recipe may be a little tight but it fit my 10 inch diameter pie tin just fine!  And don’t weave this lattice too tightly – we need to have some space for air to escape so the pie doesn’t explode!

Lightly flour the bottom of the pie crust in the tin.  This helps with the moisture and prevents you from incurring the wrath of Mary Berry and having a soggy bottom.  Add all the apples to the crust.  Don’t overfill the pie, we want it to be level with the top of the tin.  If you’re left with extra you won’t regret just eating them.  Promise.

Gently, using a combination of prayers, incantations, friend’s hands, and extra strong hopes, pick up your lattice somehow and lay it on top of the pie.  If you are lucky enough to have a flat, large sheet you can slide under it, lay it on the pie, and slide out do that!  If not, you’ll have to get some help.  If it breaks a little, again, no worries!  Just mash the pieces together and call it good.

Using a pinching technique between two fingers on one hand and a finger on the other, pinch the top and bottom layers of crust together.  Trim the excess off the sides using a knife, brush the top of the pie with milk, and bake!

Check your pie about 40 minutes into the bake.  If it’s starting to look too dark on top gently place a layer of tinfoil to the parts that are browning too quickly.  This didn’t happen to me so I don’t have any photos.  If it looks light and raw still you shouldn’t have a problem.  Once it’s baked remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for at least an hour before you eat it!

fresh apple pie

Link’s Apple Pie recipe:

      • Apple or Wildberry
      • Any fruit
      • Tabantha Wheat
      • Cane Sugar

Apple Pie

  • Servings: 1 pie
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

Homemade apple pie using fresh, tart apples

Pie

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup cold butter, cut into tablespoons
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6-9 tablespoons ice-cold water

Apple

  • 2 1/2 pounds tart apples
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1.5 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F and add some ice to a small cup of water.
  2. Add the flour and salt to a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into tablespoon-sized pieces. Add the butter to the flour and begin rubbing it between your fingers while adding flour. This will create a breadcrumb-like texture. Make sure you leave some butter pieces as large as peas.
  3. Handling the dough as little as possible, start adding water a few tablespoons at a time until the mixture begins to hold together. The dough will be a bit shaggy but should be mostly cohesive.
  4. Lightly flour a surface and knead the dough together until it forms a cohesive mass, being careful not to handle it too much.
  5. Split the dough so you have 1/3 and 2/3 in separate balls and wrap each in cling wrap.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  6. While the dough is chilling make the filling.
  7. Thinly slice the apples, making sure to remove the core.  You may peel the apples or leave the skin on, but leaving the skin gives it a little more texture and color.
  8. Add all the apples to a bowl and add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar.  Mix it with your hands until all the apples are coated evenly. Set this bowl aside aside.
  9. When the dough has chilled remove the smaller third from the fridge.  Lightly flour a surface and roll it out into a round shape large enough to drape over the edges of the pie tin you are using.  Do not grease the tin beforehand.
  10. Remove the remaining 2/3 dough from the fridge, flour your surface, and roll it out into a rectangle at least the width of the pie tin and the longest you can.  You want it fairly thin because we will be weaving the top. If you wind up with bits that crack just patch them up with some excess crust and roll over the top.
  11. Cut the strips into 1 inch wide pieces.  Lightly flour another surface to begin weaving.
  12. Lay out strips right next to each other the width of your pie tin.  Take leftover strips and weave them, starting from the center, through the strips you’ve laid out by placing the strip over then under the next strip. Take another strip and weave it the opposite way, so you’re two strips are over/under opposite one another.  Continue until you have a nice, even lattice.  If you run out of strips simply gather up any scraps and roll them out again.  Cut new strips to finish the lattice. Don’t weave this lattice too tightly – we need to have some space for air to escape so the pie doesn’t explode!
  13. Lightly flour the bottom of the pie crust in the tin.  This helps with the moisture from the apples and keeps the crust crisp. Add all the apple mixture to the crust.  Don’t overfill the pie, we want it to be level with the top of the tin.
  14. Gently pick up your lattice and lay it on top of the pie. If it breaks a little, again, no worries!  Just mash the pieces together and call it good.
  15. Using a pinching technique between two fingers on one hand and a finger on the other, pinch the top and bottom layers of crust together.  Trim any excess pie crust from the sides with a knife so it’s an even finish.  Brush the top of the pie with milk and bake for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown.
  16. Check your pie about 40 minutes into the bake.  If it’s starting to look too dark on top gently place a layer of tinfoil to the parts that are browning too quickly.  Once it’s baked remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for at least an hour before you eat it.