I have to admit something about yesterday's recipe: remember when I said I went crazy, used less oil than was called for, and it turned out great anyway...? Well, it really did, but the topping doesn't hold together quite as well as it does with all the oil called for. It doesn't bother me a bit -- it tastes just the same! But since Linda thought she might try making this for houseguests, I thought a warning was only fair. =) I'm really trying to watch what I eat now, and to make a conscious effort at reducing fat and calories. Crumbly topping is a very small sacrifice, as far as I'm concerned, for cutting a considerable amount of fat from the recipe. So... use as much oil as you see fit, and enjoy!
I re-read several parts of "Diet for a New World" after I had eaten my fill of crisp last night. I mentioned yesterday that I think John Robbins is a bit of an extremist, and I still stand by that. He cites hundreds of studies, articles, books, etc. for stats on world hunger, farming, nutrition, and so many other topics. I have a theory that anyone can find the stats he needs to prove his point if he looks hard enough. And people will believe what they want to believe, and I, being a crazy tree-hugging Birkenstock-wearing hippie-chick vegetarian, choose to believe most of what I read in "Diet." Crazy Atkins people would probably burn copies of this book, because it preaches the exact opposite of what they "believe."
That being said, I like a lot of what John Robbins stands for, and I find his book to be inspiring. I am at a place where I need to be making some changes in my life -- first and foremost, to get happy and healthy. I've had a pretty tough summer, and I need to turn things around. I need to be in a better mood on a regular basis. I need to shed a few pounds (I know, me and millions of other Americans). I need to eat as well as I was eating a couple of years ago. I need to get back into Yoga and hiking. I want to bake all my own bread and sprout my own seeds and cut refined sugar out of my life and take the time to think about each bite of food I put into my mouth and enjoy the little things as well as the big things. "Diet" makes me want to make all these things happen. I bought my copy of the book several years ago, during one of my vegan phases. Obviously, that phase passed. I think I've reached a happy medium -- my diet now consists of as much organic food as possible -- especially eggs and dairy. That's my compromise for putting those products back onto my menu. I feel pretty comfortable with this lifestyle. I'm fairly sure I'll never go back to veganism -- I'm happy with lacto-ovo vegetarianism -- but this really is a great book to have on hand. It's so Earthy and crunchy and... well, so me!
I’m back from vacation, but life is far from back to normal. Vacation was very nice, thanks… until my car broke down in Ossipee, NH on Sunday – which just so happens to be 175 miles from Orrington, Maine. I’ll spare you the gory details, but in summary, my car is now in Wolfeboro, NH, and I have to figure out how to get there on Thursday (which means taking another day and a half off from work!) to retrieve it. I love Wolfeboro, but you just can’t get they-ah from he-ah by public transportation! Ack.
Meanwhile, it’s cold, windy, and rainy here today, and I have two produce drawers full of the apples that Kev & I picked a couple of weeks ago. How are the two related? It’s the perfect formula for making my favorite apple-cranberry-almond crisp!
The original recipe for this came from “Diet for a New World” by John Robbins. Fascinating reading, BTW – John is a Robbins of Baskin-Robbins fame, and is now a vegan, activist, and author (and, I have to say, a bit more of an extremist than I usually fall for... but still very interesting). If you’re at all interested in a vegan, Earth-friendly diet, it’s well worth the read!
Anyway – John’s recipe is called “Caramel Apple Crisp.” It calls for raisins and walnuts, both of which I quite strongly dislike, and “Fruitsource,” “an all-natural sweetener… made from grape juice concentrate and rice syrup,” which I find to be extremely expensive. I use Sucanat instead – it costs more than white sugar, but less than Fruitsource!
You can, of course, look up John’s original recipe, but here’s what I’ve turned it into…
October Crisp
Core and thinly slice 4 to 5 small to medium apples. Peel them if you like, but I don’t bother. This should fill an 8x8 square baking pan about ¾ full.
Sprinkle on a couple handfuls of dried cranberries, and a couple handfuls of toasted sliced almonds.
In a small bowl, combine the following:
1 cup rolled oats
¾ cup Sucanat
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
John’s recipe calls for 1/2 cup of vegetable oil to be added to the dry mixture. I went crazy today and reduced it to 1/3 cup, and it was plenty. So mix the dry ingredients with the amount of oil you choose. Sprinkle the mixture onto the apples/cranberries/almonds.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes at 350.
This is just perfect fresh out of the oven. There are some who would probably prefer it for dessert, with whipped cream or ice cream on top. I like it straight up. Warmed, of course. For breakfast.
Well, I was home for a day and a half, and now I'm leaving again. I'm headed back to Boston today, and then on to Wolfeboro, NH (one of my favorite places on the planet!) for the rest of the week. I will be (mostly by choice) internet free the whole time! Have no fear, though -- I'll be back to blogging next week. Enjoy! =)
... when I would have something even slightly negative to say about Alton Brown... but that day is here.
It's 9:25 Friday night, and I am sitting in the newsroom of a Boston TV station that shall remain nameless to protect the innocent. It's where Kevin works, writing news stories for the talking heads to read on air. There seems to be a lot of not-working here tonight... but it is late, and the crew is a lot smaller for an 11:00 newscast than for early evening shows. Supervision is at a minimum. I know this, as I see it first-hand every day where I work. Apparently there aren't many differences between the tiny market stations and the Big City Stations. But I digress...
I knew I would be spending a few hours here tonight, as I have been dying to see this place, and this is really the best time for it (when fewer Important People are around!). I brought a good amount of reading material -- "Rainbow Valley," #7 in the "Anne of Green Gables" Series (I have decided there are 5 books too many in the series, but I'm reading them all anyway), the October issue of "Organic Style" magazine, and the October issue of "Bon Appetit." Imagine my excitement when I saw in the table of contents for "Bon Appetit" that AB is a guest contributor in this issue! And he wrote about BREAD! Well, mostly about yeast, but close enough. How good is life?
The article is pretty much an episode of "Good Eats" on paper. He tells of his first experience with yeast (when he mixed flour, water, and yeast into dough, and wanted to keep it as a pet when he saw how much it "grew"), and then goes into the inner workings of yeast. Nothing I didn't know already, but I love anything he writes/produces/stars in. I was glued to the pages...
The last page of the story is dedicated to sourdough, a subject that has recently become near and dear to my heart. Would you believe that he actually off-handedly disses purely wild starters? He claims that they "can often result in a nasty-tasting and dangerous bread brew" because of the potential for "bad bacteria" getting into the starter. He describes his solution to this problem: "Proto-Dough." I won't divulge the gory details, but it uses commercial yeast!
GASP!
Sigh. As much as I admire and respect AB, this is very disappointing. I never saw it coming. Anyone who has read anything about wild starters should be able to recognize if "bad bacteria" invade. I don't see how there could possibly be anything to fear, and I am the most food-borne-illness-paranoid person I know!
On the bright side, AB's third book will be on a bookstore shelf near you (and me) later this month.
Obviously, I am still in Boston, hence the lack of pictures -- I have no computer to upload them into (as I said, I'm on a TV newsroom computer right now!). Well, there really isn't anything to photograph for my AB rant, anyway. But Kevin and I did, in fact, make it to Algiers (no website!) for dinner Wednesday night, and to Finale for dessert. I didn't take pictures because, frankly, I would be embarassed to be seen photographing my food in a public place.
At Algiers, we ordered the Combination Salad Plate, highly recommended by Kev's dad. It's a large plate with ever-so-artfully-arranged portions of hummus, baba ganoush, tabouleh, and mujadara surrounding a lovely falafel ball. The salads are served with a basket of warm pita bread, of course. It's a complete meal for 2, and very reasonably priced. All I have to say about it is "happy, happy, happy." I love mid-eastern foods like these, and could eat the stuff for dinner every night. Algiers is at 40 Brattle Street in Cambridge, just off Harvard Square, occupying a building called "Brattle Hall."
And speaking of happy, Finale Desserterie is a beautiful thing. There are two locations, one in Boston (Park Plaza) and one in Cambridge (30 Dunster Street). I get the feeling from the website that the Park Plaza restaurant is a bit more hoity-toity than the Cambridge location. Fortunately, we were in Cambridge. =) Of course, the Cambridge one is frequented by the college crowd, which more than likely contributes to the more casual atmosphere. Unfortunately, it was a bit too crowded and noisy for my taste, but we stuck it out. And I'm glad we did. After much indecision, I chose creme brulee. Would you believe I'd never had it before? I've always been afraid that it would be too slimy for my taste. But for some reason, it seemed like the thing to do. Wow, was it ever! The custard was the smoothest thing ever to have passed my lips, and it was extra-super vanilla-y. It was topped with a variety of fruit and berries, which mixed beautifully with the cool, creamy custard and slightly bitter, crunchy burnt sugar. I am a convert.
Kevin had the "Italian Teaser," a plate of baby cannoli, lemon curd gelato, and tiramisu. The cheese in the cannoli was tragically undersweetened, and the gelato was more like sherbet than like the silky-smooth frozen treat we've enjoyed so often in Europe. But the tiramisu... oh, yeah. It was as good as anything we've had in Italy.
Just thought I'd let you all know I'm not dead -- I'm just on vacation! Today is my birthday, and my annual present to myself is a week or so off from work. I don't have to go back until October 11th! I am leaving for Boston later today, and Kev is taking me to Algiers (the restaurant, not the city!) for dinner, and Finale for dessert. I'll be in Boston for a few days, and it looks like the weather will be pleasant and seasonable (I spend too much time with my station's meteorologist, I think). So have a good week, and I'll share any culinary adventures I may have had when I get back this weekend!
