Fall has arrived in Boulder. The trees on our block are a mix of green, orange, yellow, red and brown colors, the air is crisp and cool, and the sun continues to set earlier and earlier. Autumn is here.
In celebration of fall and the Jewish New Year, last night (after cooking a delicious and romantic Rosh Hashanah dinner) I made one of my favorite fall treats: baked apples. They were fantastic.
I adapted the recipe from the “French Women Don’t Get Fat” cookbook. Presented below is the recipe with pecans, rather than walnuts. Enjoy!
by Mireille Guiliano
1/3 cup chopped pecans
4 apples
4 teaspoons butter
4 teaspoons sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons water1. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and toast them in a 250-degree oven for about 5 minutes, until they are fragrant. Set aside.
2. Wash and core the apples. Place them in a baking dish. Combine the butter, sugar-cinnamon mixture, and toasted walnuts.
3. Fill the cavity of each apple with the mixture, dividing it evenly among the apples. Pour the water into the bottom of the baking dish.
4. Bake the apples at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm. You can make the dessert more festive by pouring 1 teaspoon of heavy cream over each apple just before serving, garnishing with a sprig of mint for color, or placing an edible flower on the side.
Trust me, you can skip the garnishment. Unless you really have too much time on your hands…
p.s. I really love food photography, in part because it’s actually quite hard to get food to look good. I recommend the following sites for delicious and artistic food photographs:
Jennifer Causey Photography (favorite shots here and here)
Heidi Swanson Photography + Creative with many, many photos at her cooking site 101 Cookbooks (my favorites are here, here, and here)
I just got back from a three day business trip to Florence/Canon City, Colorado, where I met some really nice people, identified a town’s worth of irrigated areas, really got the hang of driving stick shift (while using our company car), and got a ton of work done. The trip was very productive and I am so pleased with how it went. I also had a really good time.
p.s. Here’s a fun website for your surfing pleasure: