Apple Rum Raisin

We made our favorite trip on Sunday to Central Coast Wine Country. We stopped at the Classic Organic Farm & Market and bought some wonderful produce: incredibly aromatic parsley, a basket of red, green, and purple heirloom tomatoes, peppers (which I am going to put in our smoker), a gorgeous spaghetti squash and a huge onion. At Apple Lane on Alamo Pintado, we bought four pounds of freshly picked golden apples. I made today's recipe with some of those apples. We also picked up three trays of strawberries and a cantaloupe from the stand just across from Buttonwood Farm Winery.

I do love Farmers' Markets but I love buying my food directly from the farms even more. Weekend travel plans are often built around trips to farms and orchards, near wineries when possible! We keep a cooler on our backseat, always ready to hold bottles of wine and bags of produce.

Local Harvest is a wonderful site listing farmer's markets, farms, and orchards across the country. Let me know if you visit any of the places listed on the site. Send pix!

I love combining apples and rum. Enjoy!

APPLE RUM RAISIN

1 cup of black raisins
1 cup dark rum
8 golden apples
1 tablespoon vanilla (I used Double Vanilla from Penzey's)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Juice from 1 medium orange
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon golden brown sugar
Sea Salt and pepper to taste (Optional! I used Maldon Sea Salt)

In a small saucepan, warm the rum. Add the raisins and rum to a small mixing bowl and let this sit for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, clean the apples, remove the stem, core, and slice. This is a rustic dish, so slice the apples in any style you choose. In a large mixing bowl, add the apples, rum raisins, vanilla, cinnamon and orange juice.

In a Dutch Oven or non-aluminum saute pan, melt the two tablespoons of butter. Add the golden brown sugar and stir until it is melted into the butter. Add the apple mixture, stir until coated with the brown sugar butter mixture. Saute for about 15 minutes. Don't let the apples get too soft. You want some texture to them. Place in a serving bowl, add a sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Can be served warm or cold.



Serves 6-8

Variations:

If you'd like, you can mix 1/2 cup of mascarpone with two tablespoons of honey. Mix this well. Add a dollop to the top of each serving of the Apple Raisin Rum. Vary the taste by changing the honey. Try any of these: orange blossom, chestnut or lemon.

Use 1/4 cup of either pineapple juice, coconut juice or cherry juice in place of the orange juice.

Summer Squash and Red Pepper Medley

July 7, 2009

Sing Our Song to the Stars
Summer Squash & Red Pepper Medley

Cooking while watching the Michael Jackson Memorial. Thinking about the power of creative and destructive energy, in all its permutations.

I love the flavor of red peppers in dishes. The juices and the oils released by the peppers during cooking envelope the ingredients in a rich, sweet flavor. This is an ideal pairing with summer squash. This medley is so simple to make and is open to any twist you want to put on it. Add more garlic, other herbs and seasonings, use hotter chilies, add another vegetable.

Goat cheese, flecked with crushed pepper, spread on slices of French bread is nice with this dish. Fresh peaches and cherries are a lovely fruit pairing.

I’m recording what I used to make this dish today. How I make it the next time, could be completely different.

Summer Squash & Red Pepper Medley

Ingredients
Garlic
Yellow Onion [small – minced]
Anaheim chili [medium – sliced into thin strips]
Olive Oil [5-6 tablespoons]
Fresh Lemon Juice [to taste]
Summer Squash [2 cut in half, then sliced into thin strips]
Red Pepper [1 large, sliced into thin strips]
Maldon Smoked Sea Salt [to taste]
Freshly Ground Pepper [to taste]
Fresh Tarragon [minced – amount to taste]
Fresh Lemon Basil [minced – amount to taste]
Fresh Thyme [minced – amount to taste]
Fresh Parsley [minced – amount to taste]

A note about my ingredients:

I always use the best and freshest ingredients from olive oil to salt. I grow most of my own herbs. I never buy them from the grocery store. Pick up some “fresh” herbs from a grocery store and you’ll know why I leave them in the bin. They smell musty or have no smell, at all. If you can’t grow herbs at home, try to buy from a grower at a farmers market. Curled parsley gets such a hard time from people and I concur when we are talking about mass-produced curled parsley. Grow it at home or buy from a farm stand and you will quickly add this herb back into your repertoire. I absolutely love its flavor.

DIRECTIONS

I use a large sauté pan my mother purchased for me many years ago at a yard sale. My pots and pans are some of my oldest and most faithful friends. I add the olive oil to the pan, heating it gently. Toss the minced onion and garlic into the sauté pan and cook until soft and translucent. Add the squash, pepper, chili, herbs, salt, pepper and lemon juice to the sauté pan. Cook until the vegetables are tender but not limp. Usually takes about ten to fifteen minutes depending upon the amount of heat you use.