Tag Archives: Skillet

Skillet Apple Crisp

14 Dec

Arkansas Black apples in the CSA were beautiful– so while I rarely make dessert, it seemed time to make a crisp.

A quick search for a Cooks Illustrated take on it turned up this recipe, which I followed the rough spirit of without measuring because I was running around making dinner at the last minute.

Basically, I sliced four apples and tossed them in lemon juice, brown sugar, and grated nutmeg, then melted butter and a cup of hard cider in a skillet, tossed in the apples, and cooked them over medium covered until mostly cooked through– 10-15 minutes. I mixed some oats, flour, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt and cinnamon, sprinkled that over the apples, sliced 4 Tbsp of butter into thin squares over that, and put the whole skillet in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes, while we ate the rest of dinner. Not bad, with vanilla ice cream, of course.

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Shepherd’s Pie

30 Nov

The CSA box this week was potatoes, onions, celery root, beets, sprouts, and kiwis, so continuing my CSA-inspired-dinner-with-one-or-more-friends Tuesdays: Shepherd’s Pie!

  • Potatoes and celery root diced and boiled until soft, mashed with some butter, salt and white pepper and some cheese.
  • Diced onions, garlic, and golden beets (since I had no carrots or celery) sauteed until soft, then ground lamb and some spices added to them, and a little red wine.
  • The potatoes layered on top of the meat in the same cast iron skillet, topped with grated cheddar, and broiled in the oven a few minutes to brown the top.
  • Pea shoots and broccoli on the side (with a sesame oil & sriracha sauce– nothing to do with the rest of the meal)

I’ve always been a sucker for shepherd’s pie, and this was a very simple version, but it turned out especially well. The bits of diced beet were a nice touch.

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Maple-Pecan Scones

25 Jul

Scones are one of the only things I’ve made where I’ve tried (and kept track of) many changes to a recipe over time and gradually evolved it. Here’s my current favorite version:

Maple-Pecan Scones (makes 16)

First, preheat the oven to 425 (don’t you hate recipes that don’t tell you to preheat the oven until late in the recipe?)

You’ll need:

  • 2 & 1/2 cups white flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (I’ve tried more– this is about as much as I can fit in)
  • 1 & 1/2 cups chopped pecans (for even better scones, chop half of these pecans coarsely, and grind the other half into a powder, almost a “pecan flour”, in a food processor).
  • 2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 11(!) Tbsp cold butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup (plus a little extra to brush on) (real maple syrup, of course)
  • A cast iron skillet
The process:
  1. Combine the flour, pecans, baking powder, and salt.
  2. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, keeping it coarse! (pea-sized bits, don’t overdo it). I usually cut sticks of butter into 1 Tbsp squares with a knife first, then cut in those squares.
  3. Add the milk and maple syrup.
  4. Mix lightly, turn out onto a floured counter, and gently knead together, just to make it stick together.
  5. Add a bit of milk or flour if needed to have a sticky, slightly crumbling dough.
  6. Divide the dough in half (you can refrigerate half if you only want to make 8 scones now).
  7. Squeeze each half into a ball, then roll into a thick (maybe 3/4″ thick? I’ll have to measure it next time) 7″ diameter circle, and then cut into 8 wedges
  8. Put these wedges into a greased cast iron skillet.
  9. Brush the tops with maple syrup.
  10. For extra credit, put a half pecan on top of each scone.
  11. Bake at 425 for about 18 minutes (they should start to brown, your oven may vary, mine may be a bit on the cool side).

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