Bratapfel - Wintery Baked Apple

It didn't seem as though we would be getting much of a winter here in Dallas, TX but it seems to be here! After a little bit of snow on Christmas Day and quite a few cold days in between we have had our second dusting of snow last night. Time to share my "I'd rather stay in and have something delicious" recipe - Bratapfel!

It is one of those recipes that most of us could just make out of apples and whatever they might have lurking in their pantry. Any nut, any dried fruit will do and the Vanillesosse - or Vanilla pudding could easily be substituted with custard or double cream or whipped cream. I used Dr. Oetker Vanilla Pudding as a side as well as some leftover homemade Cranberry Sauce. 

Recipe serves 4 as a large dessert or afternoon tea/coffee break snack

Ingredients

• 4 Large Apples - I like Braeburn for this but any apple you like will really do - washed and cored
• 1/2 cup of slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 Tbsp Orangeat (recipe for a homemade version coming soon!)
• Some ground Cinnamon, Cardamom or any other wintery spice that goes well with apple
• Optional - a bit of soft marzipan

Method

Preheat oven to 350F

Prep Time: 10mins

Cooking time varies

• Put the apples on a lined baking sheet or baking form
• Mix all the other ingredients together
• Fill the apples with the filling
• Put in preheated oven and bake until the skin just starts to come of and the apple is nice and soft - depending on apple size and oven this might take 20 - 35 minutes. 

If you happen to have some Marzipan put it into the apple first before the filling - this will help keep the filling in the apple without the sugary juices escaping. 

Pork with Apples

Another recipe using up some of the leftover meat from the festivities. On Christmas Eve we had some friends over for a stock fondue and one of the items that could be cooked in the fondue was pork. I had about 10 pieces left so it really needed some sprucing up.

It only took a few minutes to get the dish done so I started boiling the water for the Rice so that everything is done at the same time.

Ingredients:

• 1 Strip of smoked Bacon - the leaner the better, cut into small pieces
• 1 Shallot, finely diced
• Pork strips (it was about 100g)
• 1 Apple, cut into slices
• 1/2 cup White Wine/Apple Juice
• 1/4 cup Cream

Method:

• In a small frying pan fry the bacon in its own fat
• Add the Shallot and keep it on the heat until the Shallot has softened
• Add the pork strips and brown them from all sides until they are fully cooked
• Use the White Wine/Apple Juice to deglaze the pan
• Add the Cream and let it come to a boil
• Add the Apples slices on top and let them soften slightly

I served this with some Rice and Green Beans.

What to do with Christmas shopping leftovers

Going through the leftovers of our massive pre-Christmas shop I decided it was time to use up some ingredients that really would not last much longer. On my 'really-need-to-use-today-before-it goes-off' list were: already cracked walnuts, almonds, a bunch of bananas, a tiny bit of whipping cream and some eggs.

So what else to do with it but Banana Nut Loaf!

Prep time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter (approx. 113g), softened
• 1 egg
• 1/5 cup of light brown sugar (approx. 120g)
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 1 tbs baking powder
• 3/4 cups of flour (approx. 175g)
• 1/4 cups of potato starch (approx 50g)
• 4 ripe (very ripe) bananas
• 1 cup chopped nuts (I used Walnuts and Almonds)
• enough whipping cream to make the dough smooth

• Heat oven to 180C/355F
• Grease medium size loaf tin (approx. 2 lb) with some butter

Method

• Cream the softened butter, egg, vanilla extract and sugar in a bowl 
• Mix the baking powder, flour and potato starch
• Mush up the bananas as finely as you like - I quite like a "wet" banana bread and leave some 1/2 inch pieces for added texture
• Mix the dry ingredients and the banana into the creamed butter/egg/sugar mix
• Add enough whipping cream to make a smooth dough that falls easily off the spoon
• Bake for approx. 60 minutes 

I could not resist cutting the loaf when it was still warm but it is better to leave it out to fully cool down before cutting it. Great with vanilla ice cream or just some butter with morning tea of coffee.

Starting with a duck

Since we spent Christmas day this year by ourselves we took the liberty of a) not changing for lunch and hence spending most of the day in our pajamas andb) having a bit of a mix of a British and a German Christmas celebration!

The biggest challenge was probably to get the whole meal done on time with only one oven. I am not sure why you would ever choose to have a huge single oven over a double oven but I guess since we are renting the flat I cannot be too picky.

So since there were only two people around for Christmas day (the Weihnachtsabend or Christmas Eve was spent having fondue with a bunch of friends) we decided to try to prepare a duck. This was a complete first for me - I have only ever roasted beef or chicken before. We bought the duck the day before from Wholefoods and I think going organic on this bird has made a big impact on the taste.

I checked quite a few recipes online and in a number of cookbooks and decided to combine a few. I used the cooking time and oven temperature from a Delia recipe and made the filling up based on recipes for Duck a l’orange or Ente a l’orange and the traditional German Christmas Duck recipe I have eaten many times in restaurants accross Germany.

Before and After

Ingredients for the Duck a la me!

• 1 duck (approx. 2kg)
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh Thyme (handful)
• Fresh Rosemary (handful)
• a few knobs of butter
• 2 Oranges (organic and unwaxed if possible)
• 2 Apples (cooking apples are great)
• 1 Bay-leaf
• 1 cup (approx. 125ml)  of White Wine 
• 2 cups (approx. 250ml) of chicken or duck stock
• 1 cup Orange Juice
• Corn starch for the gravy

Method

• Preparation time: 15 minutes on the day before and 10 minutes once the duck is done
• Cooking time (excluding the gravy) 90-110 minutes
• Oven on 380 - 410 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 - 210 Degrees Celsius

24 - 48 Hours before take out the giblets etc, remove access fat around the neck etc. and wash and thoroughly dry the duck. Leave it uncovered in the fridge so that it can dry out properly. This will help achieving a crisp skin later on.

Dice the apple and the orange. Roughly chop the thyme and the rosemary. Take out the duck and dry any excess moisture off with a kitchen towel.

Stuff the duck’s cavity with the apple and oranges, half the thyme, rosemary and the bay-leaf. Massage the salt, pepper and the rest of the thyme into the skin. Tie down the legs and the wings. With a sharp knife pierce the duck just under the skin into the fat about 10 - 15 times in each side to make sure the rendered fat can drip off.

Place the duck breast up in a roasting tin and put a few knobs of butter on top if it. Place it in the oven. After half the cooking time remove some if the fat (great for roast potatoes!) and turn the duck around. Before putting the duck back in pour half of the stock and half of the wine into the roasting tin.

At the end of the roasting time the duck skin should be nice and crispy and all of the duck meat heated through thoroughly. Put the duck to the side and cover it with foil to rest. Add the rest of the wine and the stock as well as the orange juice to the roasting juices and fat and whisk in the corn starch into the fluid to create a gravy. 

Carve the duck and serve with any trimmings you like!