A couple of days ago, a friend of the family arrived with a whole basket full of lovely apples from her garden. That evening we had relatively unannounced guests for dinner, so while my mom was whipping up the pork loin and brussel sprouts, I was making a quick and easy Apple Brown Betty. For those of you people who don't know what I am talking about, apple brown Betty, is nothing more than apples baked in a casserole dish with some delicious oats on top. Its similar to a cobbler or crisp, but I find it much more delicious and its easier to make.
Here's how it goes.
For about 6 servings, you will need:
6-7 Apples (Really, the quality of the apples make the dish. Use some that are crisp and tart to the taste)
1 cup of cracked oats
3 Tbl spoons of brown sugar
1/4 Cup Flour
1 Tbl spoon Cinnamon
1/2 Stick of Butter (unsalted)
Peel, core and cut 3 of the apples. Only core and cut the other three apples and put them all into a relatively deep casserole dish. I do this, because the peel of the apples add a nice tartness to the whole shabang. In a bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, flour and cinnamon and then sprinkle on the apples. Melt the butter and pour on the Apples. Bake the whole thing at 350 degrees Farenheit or 180 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes.
Serve warm with either vanilla ice cream or whipped cream or just pure.
I just re-discovered something beautiful. Chinese Cabbage. It's very different form Bok Choi or other cabbages. I think of it as simple, elegant and just pure goodness. Much like that perfect little black dress that we all crave to own, but spend a lifetime looking for. Then you mix in some shrimp with this cabbage, and it is as if you have created your own little piece of paradise.
Alright, enough of the poetics. This recipe is a very simple one for a so-called stir fry dish. I personally don't like the word stir fry as it always implies tons of sauce and some type of General Teryaki marinade dipped in plum sauce and tons of mystery meat swashed in fat.
Instead I want to show you that you can make a healthy stiry fry with little sauce, little fat and lots of flavor.
Shrimp and Cabbage Stir Fry!
You will need
2tbl Vegetable Oil
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 inch of FRESH ginger root.
2 Scallions
1 Bell Pepper (whatever color you fancy. The red, yellow and orange are much sweeter than the green)
2 Carrots
1 Zucchini
1/2 lb Shrimp
2 cups of chopped Chinese Cabbage
Soy Sauce
Salt
Pepper
Sesame Oil
Sesame Seeds (Optional)
1tbl Molasses
First of all you need to invest in good knives. Knives are key for this dish. Take all the vegetables and chop them up finely. Chop the Garlic and the Ginger. Put the oil in a Wok (That pan that looks like a pot but is not) and heat the oil. Add the Garlic and Ginger. Then add the scallions and sauteé until translucent. Add all the other vegetables and Sautée until tender (It might look like a lot of food before, but this shrinks down enourmously. So really plan chop a lot) Add the Shrimp and Sauteé until pink. Then add soy sauce and the molasses. Finally season with Salt, Pepper, Sesame Oil and maybe some chili, or lemon grass let it sit for about 10 minutes on low heat and stir a couple of times.
Serve with rice. Or alone. Or on lettuce. This is really nice on lettuce.
Cheers.
