Prime Cuts

“Do you know any great appetizer recipes?” I get asked this question all the time, especially around The Holidays. People have guests popping in left and right, and the thought of serving up one more veggie tray, one more jalapeno popper, or one more nut-covered cheese ball is enough to make anyone’s head explode.

Psst! I’ll let you in on a little secret. Lean in a little closer (it’s OK … I won’t bite). You don’t have to dish out that cookie cutter, boring, tired out old stuff. There are worlds of goodness out there to be explored without having to resort to … that.

The Holiday Season is the perfect time to indulge a little. The frostiness in the air lends itself to all things warm, bubbly and gooey. So, why not surprise your guests with something a few steps away from the everyday? Serve them something that’ll have them licking their fingers and begging for more. Give them something that’ll make them salivate with anticipation for your next “do”!

First up: Manchego-Quince Skewers

This is so simple, I find it hard to even call it a “recipe”. That said, this is fast, easy, has remarkable flavors and people will gobble these up so fast that your head will spin. Here’s what you need:

Ingredients

1 pound Manchego cheese
1 pound Quince Paste (you can get this at most upscale/specialty markets**)
1 bunch of Watercress
Toothpicks.

**If you can’t find Quince Paste, a piece of dried apricot will do in a pinch.

Preparation

Cut the Manchego cheese and the Quince Paste into 1” cubes. Skewer one cube of each on a toothpick with one watercress leaf. Serve. That’s IT. The creaminess of the Manchego works beautifully with the tangy sweetness of the Quince Paste and the subtle peppery quality of the watercress. Easy-peasy.

Second: Baked Brie with Caramelized Apples

This one takes a little more time, but you’ll reap loads of accolades and smiles, so it’s worth every second.

Ingredients

1 small wheel of Brie
1 tube refrigerated crescent roll dough (the “leading” brand now makes this in big sheets, so you don’t have to contend with seams and the like)
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar (either light or dark is fine)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/4 cup chopped nuts (I like almonds or pecans, but walnuts would work, too)
A handful of dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
English Water crackers, for serving

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Unroll crescent roll dough onto a cookie sheet. Place the brie right in the center. In a skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and cook til it dissolves and gets all melty and caramelly. Add the diced apples, nuts, cranberries and cinnamon. Cook until the apples are just soft and the cranberries just begin to plump up. Spoon this mixture on top of the brie, then wrap the whole package in the crescent roll dough, making sure to seal the seams well.

Bake for about 13-15 minutes, or until it’s golden brown. Remove from oven, transfer to a platter with the English Water crackers and serve. It’s melty, it’s savory, it’s sweet, it’s GOOD.

Don’t settle for the ordinary when you can have something EXTRA-ordinary.

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Photo by: sean dreilinger

While I am a self-professed beach lover and sun worshipper, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I LOVE Fall. And I don’t just mean I like it a little. I LOVE it. LOVE.

“Have you hit your head?” you might ask. NO! There’s just something about that first nip in the air … wearing jeans … and cozy sweaters and the season’s first crackle in the fireplace. There’s something wonderfully comforting about warming up with a hot bowl of soup, wonderful roasted stews and veggies. And apples! What would Fall be without APPLES?

Oh! I love them. I eat apples all year ‘round, but Fall is especially tempting for me, because every crispy, sweet, juicy variety is here and just waiting for me to crunch into them.

Just their names make me happy. Granny Smith. Pink Lady. Fuji. Mutsu. Honeycrisp (OH! The Honeycrisp — maybe the greatest apple in the history of apples.) Jonathan. It’s all enough to make your mouth water with sweet, Autumnal delight.

There are so many to choose from, you might be at a loss to decide WHICH apples are right for your needs. Since, at this time of year, so many people want to bake them in pies, crisps and the like, let’s focus on the best varieties for that. The best baking apples have a good sweet-tart balance and their flesh won’t break down as they cook. If you want to prepare a dish that’s got complex textures and flavors, try combining two or more apple varieties.

While there are LOTS of apples that are fine for baking, some stand up better than others. Some to look for are: Cortland, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Jonathan, Macoun, Mutsu (aka Crispin), Stayman & Winesap.

Now that you’ve got your apples and are ready to tackle some serious baking, here’s one of my favorite recipes of all-time. It’s for the apple pie that my mom made when I was a kid, and that I adopted (and tweaked) when she went back to work. It’s different from any other pie you’ve ever eaten, I assure you, and once you’ve tried it, you’ll never go back to “just pie”. Enjoy!

French Apple Cream Pie

Ingredients

• (2) 9″ pie crusts (you can make your own OR use the chilled kind that you unroll — that’s almost as good as from-scratch).
• Filling: 4 pounds apples (Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Crispin, Stayman — your choice), peeled, cored and sliced 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 teaspoons 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Topping: 3 oz. softened** cream cheese1/4 cup sour cream1 egg1/3 cup sugar1 tablespoon lemon juice1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Lightly beaten egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of water
• Cinnamon-Sugar for dusting on top of crust

**MAKE  SURE THAT YOUR CREAM CHEESE IS SOFTENED, OR YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO MAKE IT SMOOTH, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY.**

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Unroll 1 pie crust (if using refrigerated), place into a deep dish pie plate.
• In a large bowl, combine the apples, 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Toss to coat the apples with the other ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes. Pour into prepared pie shell.
• Mix together ingredients for topping until smooth. Pour over apple mixture.
• Place remaining pie crust on top and crimp to seal the edges. Brush the top crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool completely before serving.

Sweet, creamy, rich and satisfying, this apple pie represents everything that I adore about Fall. It’s everything that I want Fall to be. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Melissa DelGaudio is a self-professed food lover & apple junkie. When she’s not slicing up goodness here at Prime Cuts, she’s the Big Apple over at Honeybee Consulting, where she bakes up sweet marketing strategies for her clients. Visit her there, or check her out over on Twitter, where she’s often flakier than her pie crust.

Today Joe shares an awesome roasted beet and green apple salad as a healthy addition to our other recipes.

Something that Justin and our readers have been asking me to do for a while now is to post a healthy/lighter fare recipe.   Specifically a recipe that is non-beef or even vegetarian.  While meat is my forte, I do have a few vegetable dishes in my repertoire.  Although I eat a steak or two just about every day, once in a while I have a salad too.

One of my favorite veggies has to be beets.  I hated this vegetable as a child, because until I began working in professional kitchens, I had never had a beet that was fresh or for that matter wasn’t boiled to death.  Beets are especially delicious when roasted, and once they are, the possibilities are virtually limitless.  They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, well a beet a day keeps 10 doctors away.  They are packed full of vitamins and nutrients, which is why they have earned a place among the super vegetables…those few veggies that contain significantly more nutrition than most others and simply put are super good for you.

The following recipe is for a simple salad that is my spin on a salad course that was prepared for me by Caminito predecessor chef, and my personal mentor, Maryann Salcedo.  I have done several variations of this salad in my day, and although this recipe is quite simple, the contrasting flavors and textures are truly complex.

Roasted beet and green apple salad a la Maryann

Ingredients

4 medium beets (racquetball sized) stems, and roots trimmed
2 granny smith apples
4 large mint leaves Chiffonade
Zest and juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1 tbsp light olive oil
1 tsp sugar
Salt
Pepper
(Vegetable oil and coarse salt for roasting beets)

Preparation

1.    Wash beets thoroughly, (do not peel) then rub with vegetable oil.  Place in a single layer in a baking dish and sprinkle with coarse salt.  Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for approx. 2 hours, or until a small paring knife slides in without resistance, be careful not to overcook.  Cool beets to room temp and then chill.  This step can be done a day or two in advance.

2.    Combine zest, juice, olive oil, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl, whisk vigorously to combine.

3.    Prep beets by peeling outer skin with a sharp paring knife.  Cut beets into matchstick size, next cut unpeeled apples into the same matchstick size, quickly transfer beets and apples into large bowl with citrus dressing, toss lightly to coat.  The citrus juice will prevent the apples from turning brown.

4.    Transfer salad to serving plates, you will not need to apply any of the excess dressing left in the mixing bowl, whatever clings to the beets and apples will be sufficient for flavoring.

5.    Garnish with chiffonade mint, and possibly a small scoop of plain yogurt if you like.  In the summertime I like to add a few fresh blueberries at the last minute for color and added sweetness.

This is a very refreshing salad that is good for just about any time of year.  All the ingredients are readily available, and inexpensive.  While this combination may seem less than exotic, the proper roasting of the beets, and knife work that goes into producing a uniform matchstick cut, will make this salad stand out.  The matchstick cut creates more surface area on the beets and apples for the dressing to cling to, but you can of course cut yours however you like.

Eat one of these salads a day and your doctor will soon be but a memory.

Enjoy!

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Photo by: Kitty Sonnenschein

One of Justin’s favorite salads lately has been any combination of apple, pear, walnut, dried cranberry and blue cheese in a salad.  So, Justin has put together this recipe for you which combines all of these great flavors into a single salad.  There are no specific measurements for this salad as it should be based on what flavors you like more than others.  As always, we hope you enjoy

Apple and Walnut Salad with Blue Cheese Crumbles

Ingredients

Spring Mix
Red Onions, cut into thin rings
Granny Smith Apples, cored and cut into bite-sized chunks
Pears, julienne
Dried Cranberries
Unsalted Walnuts, chopped
Blue Cheese crumbles
Apple Cider Vinegar, drizzle
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Lightly toss salad to ensure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed together with the apple cider vinegar and serve.  If you don’t like apple cider vinegar, you could substitute a cranberry walnut dressing or anything similar to that flavor profile.

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Photo by: Suviko

Are you looking for a quick and easy addition to vanilla ice cream for dessert?  How about a new topping for Belgian waffles in the morning?  Below is a recipe for hot cinnamon apples which you can use as a topping or eat by themselves.  After cooking for a couple days straight preparing for Thanksgiving, this is a great recipe to make it seem like you worked really hard preparing it but is so simple.

Ingredients

8-10 Red delicious apples, peeled and chopped
6-8 tbsp unsalted butter
1-1.5 c brown sugar
1/4 c cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp table salt

Preparation

In a large skillet add the apples and butter over medium heat.  Once butter melts add cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Continue to constantly stir to prevent apples from burning.  After a few minutes add the brown sugar evenly over the entire mixture.  Continue stirring the mixture until the apples soften and sauce thickens.  Remove from heat and let stand for approximately 5 minutes to allow apples to cool slightly.  Serve over vanilla ice cream, Belgian waffles or anything else that hot cinnamon apples sounds good with!

Enjoy!

You can download a PDF version of this Hot Cinnamon Apples Recipe.

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Photo by: slambo_42