Apple Crisp a Great Fall Dessert

Stayman Winesap apples.

One of our favorite apples in the fall and winter is the Stayman Winesap.  It's very good for baking, and I was happy to get a bag of these at the Farmer's Market on Monday.   Here's a simple recipe that can be made in about an hour--20 minutes prep time and 40 minutes cooking time. This is modified from a recipe from  Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats (not the Quick Cook ones)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 cups apples--peeled, cored and chopped
1/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8-inch square pan with butter.
2.  In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour, nutmeg, cardamom and butter.
Mix until crumbly.  Place half of the crumb mixture in pan.  Spread apples over the mixture.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and top with remaining crumb mixture.
3.  Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.
Serves 8

Place half of crumb mixture in bottom of pan.

Spread apples over crumb mixture.

Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over apples.

Top with the remaining crumb mixture.

Yummy!

This is an easy and delicious fall dessert. 
                  

The Barefoot Contessa's Cookbooks

Strawberry rhubarb crisp with ice cream.

One thing I have learned about cooking is to find recipes from the best cooks around.  Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa,  is one of my favorites, and I have several of her cook books.  We are quite fond of strawberry/rhubarb crisp, and  I've tried lots of recipes for this, all of them good, but I decided to look for a new recipe to try.  I ran across one from The Barefoot Contessa, and there has never been one of her recipes that I've tried that I didn't like. This was no exception.

Her recipe adds a bit of fresh orange juice and orange zest and the subtle orange flavor enhances the strawberry/rhubarb flavors.

Orange juice and orange zest adds a twist to this recipe.

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh rhubarb, 1-inch diced (4 to 5 stalks)
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved, if large
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 tablespoon cornstarch (see note)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal, such as McCann's
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the fruit, toss the rhubarb, strawberries, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, and the orange zest together in a large bowl. In a measuring cup, dissolve the cornstarch in the orange juice and then mix it into the fruit. Pour the mixture into an 8 by 11-inch baking dish and place it on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

Strawberry-rhubarb mixture ready for topping.

For the topping, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, salt, and oatmeal. With the mixer on low speed, add the butter and mix until the dry ingredients are moist and the mixture is in crumbles. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit, covering it completely, and bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream.

Add topping and ready for oven.

Out of the oven, browned and nice and bubbly.

  

Ready to eat with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. .

  This is now my "go to recipe" for strawberry rhubarb crisp.