Apple Crisp

Let the Kit-tastrophe continue! No, no, no... that name won't work. Kit and Caboodle? Kitting Around? Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Blog?!

Eh, whatever, we'll figure it out together.

This week's featured food kit is McCutcheon's Apple Crisp Mix. My parents picked it up for me from Delicious Orchards--famed for its pies, turnovers, and apple cider doughnuts, among other things. It's got a great reputation for baked goods, so I was willing to bet that this would be a winner.

Ingredients:

1/2 Package of McCutcheon's Apple Crisp Mix

2 Large Apples

4 Tablespoons of Butter

Steps/Analysis:

First things first: you'll have to peel and slice the apples. At the supermarket, I chose braeburn because (1) they looked ripe and (2) they were on special, which is all the reason I've ever needed to buy anything.

I sliced them about 1/8 of an inch thick and dumped them into a round baking dish that's been greased up with some butter. (In the interest of complete discretion, McCutcheon's recommends a pie dish, but I don't currently own one.)

Next, melt four tablespoons of butter in the microwave and add the McCutcheon's mix. Stir until delightful little clumps of crisp topping form.

Spread the topping over the prepared apples and remove to a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Serving/Notes:

As we all know, there's only one thing to do with warm apple crisp . . . smother it in vanilla ice cream and consume!

Overall, I was pretty satisfied with this product. I found it to be a little dry, but perhaps that's because I'm used to syrupy-soaked, restaurant-purchased crisps. The topping had a chewy, oatmeal-like texture.

Beer Bread in a Bottle

As it turns out, being a cook is a lot like being a writer.

Let me explain.

Once I openly identified myself as a writer to friends and family, it became surprisingly easy to shop for me during the holidays. The notebooks and pen sets just came rolling in. Since I'm a cook now, as well, this Christmas I received my fair share of cookbooks and kits.

For example, I present to you Moose Grub "Beer Bread in a Bottle," straight from Bar Harbor!

My family knows me too well. I like beer. I like bread. Let's make this happen.

Ingredients:

1 Moose Grub "Beer Bread in a Bottle"

1 12 Oz. Beer (Room Temperature)

Non-stick Cooking Spray

Steps/Analysis:

The good folks at Bar Harbor really make things easy for you. First, empty the contents of the "Beer Bread in a Bottle" into a large bowl. The dry mix contains just about everything you need.

Next, add a room temperature beer of your choice to the mix.

The kit encourages you to experiment with the beer you use, stating that light and dark beer may be used and that each will bring its own unique flavor to the party. I chose my own personal favorite draft: Yuengling.

Stir the mix and beer to thoroughly combine.

Find a loaf pan and give it a quick blast of non-stick spray. Pour the now sticky and fully-formed dough into the pan and toss it into a 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. Done-zo!

Serving/Notes:
I was quite happy with the way the bread turned out. I ended up with a sourdough-style loaf with just a hint of that delicious Yuengling taste. It was a little crumbly, but still suitable for sandwich or any other use.

Thanksgiving Adventures: Pumpkin Pie

Let's talk Turkey Day. Since I'm currently living about 6 1/2 hours away from family and am at the whim of my graduate school's academic calendar, it was up to me to make Thanksgiving happen this year.



It wasn't all bad, though. My lady and I hunkered down in the kitchen and kept up a steady intake of beer and wine to aid in the cooking process. In fact, everything turned out really well and a real-deal, grown-up Thanksgiving was had.



Don't believe me? Check out the photographic evidence below.



Yum. Makes me hungry all over again just looking at it.

Clearly, this spread is just too much to catalog in a single blog post, so I'm going to parcel it out over the next week or two. Start taking notes for next year, folks. I'm starting this series of posts off with dessert, because I'm an adult and can have dessert first if I want to, damn it!

Here is my pumpkin pie.

Ingredients:
1 Frozen Pie Crust (Deep)
1 15 Ounce Can of Pumpkin
1 12 Ounce Can of Evaporated Milk
3/4 Cup of Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
3/4 Teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 Eggs



Steps/Analysis: Start off by preheating your oven to 425 degrees.

Next, in a small bowl, mix the sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Pumpkin pie spice, for those of you who don't know (which included me until just a couple days before Thanksgiving), is a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. It smells like the holiday season in a canister--it's a beautiful thing.








In the largest bowl you own, crack and beat the two eggs. Slowly stir in the canned pumpkin and the mixed dry ingredients.

Work in the evaporated milk in small installments, thoroughly incorporating each one before adding in the next. Take your time with it because this is your pie filling, for better or worse.

Pour the filling into the pie crust. Hopefully, you trusted me and bought the deep variety. Otherwise, you'll have half a bowl of pumpkin soup to deal with.

Carefully slide the pie into the oven and set your timer for 15 minutes. Once that goes off, you'll want to back down the oven temperature to 350 degrees and let it bake for another 40-50 minutes.

I say 40-50 minutes, but, really, the only way to know when the pumpkin pie is done is if you can insert a knife into its center and pull it out clean as a whistle. When you've attained that state, let the pie cool for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serving/Notes:

I actually baked this pie the day before Thanksgiving in preparation for the big day. I cooled the pie, as noted above, then covered it with aluminum foil and popped it in the refrigerator. I think this is probably the way to go to guarantee solid, un-runny pie contents.

When you are ready to serve, there's only one way to go: topped off with loads of whipped cream. Otherwise, enjoy the cool, creamy, pumpkin-y finish to your meal.

B.A. Gourmet's First Dessert: Johnny Rotten Cake

One of the unexpected benefits of starting this blog is that friends, relatives, and acquaintances (once aware of its existence) have started to send me their own recipes to try. That's one of the great things about cooking, in my opinion, the fact that it tends to draw people together. Even if you only look as far as family, I'm sure there are a few recipes lurking around that have been passed down through the years. All you have to do to tap into them as a resource is express a little interest. More often than not, people are more than happy to share their food, stories, and opinions with you. Case in point, me!

Today's recipe actually comes from one of my previous professors, the very talented writer, instructor, and baker Jane Satterfield. If you have any interest in the genres of poetry or memoir, you'd do well to look her books up. They come highly recommended.

Several weeks ago, Jane sent me a recipe Johnny Rotten Cake, so named by her family after the expression "Eat this lovely sponge; not that rotten cake," meaning save your appetite for something special. The following recipe may be better known as Wacky or Three Hole Cake (the reason for that will be clear soon) and is a popular southern dessert.

Johnny Rotten Cake is very much in line with the spirit of The B.A. Gourmet; it's simple to make and requires very little preparation/cooking time.

Ingredients:

3 Cups of Flour

2 Cups of Sugar

1/2 Cup of Good Quality Cocoa

2/3 Cup of Oil

2 Teaspoons of Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon of Salt

2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

2 Cups of Water

Additional Icing Ingredients-

1 Cup of Chocolate Chips

1/2 Stick of Butter

Steps/Analysis:

To my surprise, all of these ingredients were already in my pantry. If you live with someone who does even a little baking, you probably do too, so take a look around before you go grocery shopping.

Pour all of the dry ingredients in a 9x13 inch baking pan. (That's right, no mixing bowls required!) The recipe I was given states that you do not need to prep the pan at all. Because this was my first dessert attempt, though, I decided to take out some insurance by rubbing it down with a little Crisco and dusting it with flour.

(Note: I actually ended up using half milk chocolate cocoa and half dark chocolate cocoa. That was not by design, though. The ran out of milk chocolate and didn't notice the different labels until I had already started pouring the dark chocolate. I'm a fan of dark chocolate anyway, so I continued onward. The end product did not suffer as a result of the combination.)

Use a spoon or your fingers to make three holes in the resulting mound (hence the cake's formal name) and pour the wet ingredients into them. If the vinegar makes contact with the baking soda, there will be a little foaming (a la the classic science fair volcano project), but there shouldn't be enough of either ingredient to overflow the baking pan.

Carefully mix the ingredients until a mostly uniform consistency is achieved. Then, place the pan in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. You'll know it's done when you can insert a sharp knife or tooth pick into the center and it comes out clean.

Allow to cool and ice if desired. For the icing, place the chocolate chips and butter (cut into chunks) in a microwave-safe bowl and zap it for a minute or until you can stir it up into an icing consistency. Spread it over the cake and let it set up.

Serving/Notes:

This is a great recipe. It's economical, adaptable, and easy to pull off. The cake comes out pleasantly dense and moist. It's not overly sweet by itself, though, so the icing is a good idea. I definitely plan on making this again and look forward to trying out all kinds of interesting variations. Thanks, Jane!