An Ode to Autumn
It's cold today. Not freezing, but a bit blustery and I've turned the heater on for the first time this year. (And by heater I mean the Swedish heating pads we have in our ceiling.... that still miraculously work which is a damn good thing because I doubt there is anyone left around that knows how to repair these freaking things.) Anyway, I digress:
An Autumnal dessert, and some red meat.
Crunchy Baked Apple Stacks
Donna Hay -No Time to Cook
1/2 cup (80g) blanches almonds, finely chopped
1/4 cup (55g) sugar
pinch ground cinnamon
15g soft butter
2 red apples, cored and thickly sliced
double (heavy) cream, to serve
Preheat oven to 180C (355F). Place almonds, sugar, cinnamon and butter in a small bowl. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Place 2 slices of apple on the tray and top each slice with a spoonful of the almond mixture. Repeat with remaining almond mixture and apple slices. Bake stacks for 25 minutes or until apple is just soft. Serve with a dollop of double cream. Serves 2.
Coring and slicing the apples was easier than anticipated. I simply sliced them first, then cored each slice individually.
I used my trusty (but too small!) mortar and pestle to grind the almonds.
Ok the apple on the right is ridiculous, but on the way to the oven it fell over and two slices were "dissapeared" by the dog, so it became much more manageable.
All finished! As usual if I find something a little lackluster (as I did these apples), the husband loves them.... oh well :) They weren't bad, just not amazing.
Prosciutto-wrapped steaks with blue cheese
Donna Hay - No Time to Cook
2 x 220 g thick sirloin or eye fillet steaks, trimmed
2 field mushrooms, stalks trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon mustard
4 slices prosciutto
50 g baby spinach leaves
70g soft blue cheese
Brush steaks and mushrooms with the combined oil and balsamic, and sprinkle generously with pepper. Spread steaks with mustard, wrap in proscuitto. Preheat a char-grill pan (broiler) or barbecue to medium-high. Cook steaks and mushrooms for 5 minutes each side or until done to your liking. Divide spinach between serving plates and top with mushroom and steak. Finish with a wedge or cheese and allow to melt slightly before serving. Serves 2.
The eye fillets that I used for this were really thick so 9 minutes on each side resulted in a pretty rare result, which I loved but might be a little rare for some. I thought the mushroom was great, I didn't know I could simply put these under the broiler. I <3 blue cheese. Husband doesn't though, so I substituted plain goat cheese for his topping.
An Autumnal dessert, and some red meat.
Crunchy Baked Apple Stacks
Donna Hay -No Time to Cook
1/2 cup (80g) blanches almonds, finely chopped
1/4 cup (55g) sugar
pinch ground cinnamon
15g soft butter
2 red apples, cored and thickly sliced
double (heavy) cream, to serve
Preheat oven to 180C (355F). Place almonds, sugar, cinnamon and butter in a small bowl. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Place 2 slices of apple on the tray and top each slice with a spoonful of the almond mixture. Repeat with remaining almond mixture and apple slices. Bake stacks for 25 minutes or until apple is just soft. Serve with a dollop of double cream. Serves 2.
Coring and slicing the apples was easier than anticipated. I simply sliced them first, then cored each slice individually.
I used my trusty (but too small!) mortar and pestle to grind the almonds. 
Ok the apple on the right is ridiculous, but on the way to the oven it fell over and two slices were "dissapeared" by the dog, so it became much more manageable.
All finished! As usual if I find something a little lackluster (as I did these apples), the husband loves them.... oh well :) They weren't bad, just not amazing.
Prosciutto-wrapped steaks with blue cheeseDonna Hay - No Time to Cook
2 x 220 g thick sirloin or eye fillet steaks, trimmed
2 field mushrooms, stalks trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon mustard
4 slices prosciutto
50 g baby spinach leaves
70g soft blue cheese
Brush steaks and mushrooms with the combined oil and balsamic, and sprinkle generously with pepper. Spread steaks with mustard, wrap in proscuitto. Preheat a char-grill pan (broiler) or barbecue to medium-high. Cook steaks and mushrooms for 5 minutes each side or until done to your liking. Divide spinach between serving plates and top with mushroom and steak. Finish with a wedge or cheese and allow to melt slightly before serving. Serves 2.
The eye fillets that I used for this were really thick so 9 minutes on each side resulted in a pretty rare result, which I loved but might be a little rare for some. I thought the mushroom was great, I didn't know I could simply put these under the broiler. I <3 blue cheese. Husband doesn't though, so I substituted plain goat cheese for his topping.
Comments
and now time to boil potatoes and eggs for potato salad...... I'm hungry!