Hasselback Apples

For dessert, the South Arm Community Kitchen made some Hasselback Apples.

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Choose firm apples with sweet-tart flavour for this Hasselback Apples recipe. Pink Lady or Honeycrisp works well while Fuji and Granny Smith falls apart.

Ingredients

  • 2 large firm apples, peeled, halved vertically and cored
  • butter to grease pan or lined pan with parchment paper
  • 4 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
  • 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2  cups vanilla ice-cream (optional)

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Source: South Arm Community Kitchen

Serves 4

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Impossible Cardamom Apple Pie

Michelle harvested some apples from her apple tree and Chris also brought some apples to share at the South Arm Cooking Club Seniors. Michelle came up with this simple apple pie recipe with a twist, i.e. using cardamon instead of cinnamon which is usually associated with apple pie.

Apple is the original superfood which is rich in phytochemicals which have health benefits to cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, weight management and bone health. There goes the old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”.

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Michelle served this Impossible Cardamom Apple Pie with some homemade vanilla ice-cream.

Ingredients

  • 3 to 4 apples
  • 1/4 teaspoon cardamon (or cinnamon)
  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup unbleached flour

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Source: Mintgreeapron.blogspot.com

Tips: use freshly grind cardamon for a more pronounce flavour

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Apple Cake

Minoo served an Apple Cake as dessert for the South Arm Community Kitchen.

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You can substitute carrot for the apple in this recipe. Zucchini also works well with this recipe and you can substitute the walnuts with chocolate chips for the zucchini cake.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups grated apples
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

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Source: this recipe is adapted from Shefali Raja’s recipe from Simply Great Food; Dietitians of Canada, 2007 Robert Rose Inc.

Yield: 20 servings

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Stewed Apples

For dessert, Minoo prepared a Stewed Apples for the South Arm Community Kitchen.

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The Stewed Apple if topped with vanilla ice-cream will make an exquisite dessert.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups cubed apples
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 cup water or apple juice
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • dash of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch of nutmeg

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Source: via Minoo

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Canning Apple Ginger Chutney

I was able to find time for the canning drop-in again last week. For the month of September, the canning drop-in is conducted at the Minoru Seniors Center, in the kitchen of the cafeteria. The canning drop-in runs on Tuesday, from 5PM to 7PM for the month of August and September.

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For last week’s canning drop-in, Karen DW of Your Secret Chef prepared Apple Ginger Chutney for sale at the Applepalooza event which will take place on Oct 2nd in the Apple Orchard at the south end of Gilbert Road, from 10AM to 2PM. It’s a celebration about apple. This is the second annual festival and it includes tasting and sales of apples, baked goods with apples and apple ginger chutney. The price of a jar of 250ml homemade organic apple ginger chutney is only $5 which is a bargain. There is also a lunch by chef Ian Lai ($5), face painting and crafts and wonderful music in the orchard.

This delicious condiment can be made with in-season apples now, or with non-seasonal ingredients any time of the year. It is delicious served with meats like chicken and grilled fish or combined with sour cream or cream cheese in appetizer toppings or sauces.

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The apples are home grown and it’s perfectly alright to use the imperfect apples for canning.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups (750 ml) prepared Granny Smith apples, about 5 large or 1 lb (500 g)
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (we substituted this with a cup of apple as we did not have the red bell pepper)
  • 2 cups (500 ml) chopped onion
  • 2 cups (500 ml) dark brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1- 1/2 cups (375 ml) cider vinegar
  • 1 cup (250 ml) golden raisins
  • 1/4 cup (50 ml) peeled and minced ginger root
  • 3/4 teaspoon (4 ml) ground mustard
  • 3/4 teaspoon (4 ml) salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) red pepper flakes

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Source: Bernadin via Karen DW

Makes about 7 x 250ml jars.

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Gingered Rhubarb Apple Crisp

For dessert, Minoo prepared a Gingered Rhubarb Apple Crisp for the South Arm Community Kitchen. Rhubarb is in season at this time of the year.

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This Gingered Rhubarb Apple Crisp is bursting with ginger flavour. This will be perfect if served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

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Rhubarb is low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. It is high in dietary fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Calcium, Potassium, Manganese and Magnesium. Rhubarb is good for maintaining general good health and weight lost diet.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups diced rhubarb
  • 1 large apples
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon minced crystallized ginger
  • 1 tablespoon flour

Topping:

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons cold butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup oatmeal

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P/S: butter missing from the photos because it was stored in the fridge to keep cold

Source: Minoo

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Actually, we had a double dessert day. Peggy also demonstrated a Mango Pudding dessert which I had blogged about here. Since the mango pudding needs time to refrigerate to set, Peggy prepared one at home so that we can enjoy it here. We also got to bring home some which Peggy demonstrated in the kitchen. Peggy, thank you for sharing.

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Maple Apple Pudding

To complete the meal at the South Arm Community Kitchen, Minoo shared an apple pudding recipe as a dessert.

For those of you who are health conscious, you would like to pay attention to this. This is because of the use of maple syrup. Two days ago I read an article that had identified our maple syrup as a superfood (see article here). Superfood is describe as food with high phytonutrient content that may provide health benefits.

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This Apple Pudding is sweetened with maple syrup. We love the addition of cinnamon which goes very well with the apples and raisins. Cinnamon is high in antioxidant and the essential oil of cinnamon also has antimicrobial properties which can help in the preservation of certain food. I love the aroma in the kitchen when baking with cinnamon.

Ingredients

  • 4 to 5 large ripe apples
  • 1/2 cup (125ml) maple syrup, divided
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 3 tablespoons (45ml) melted butter
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup (50ml) milk
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • ground cinnamon

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Source: this recipe is adapted from A Taste of Quebec (Macmillan)

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Apple Celery Salad

The South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors met up again at the South Arm Community Centre for the last time as the community kitchen will be moved to another location for 2 months while South Arm kitchen under goes renovation. We cant wait to see what’s install.

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The first dish is a simple Apple Celery Salad. This salad is cinnamony and crunchy. A good start to whip up the appetite.

Celery has low calorie and rich in dietary fibre. Hence, it’s often used in weight loss diets.

Ingredients

Yogurt Dressing

  • 1 cup low fat plain yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Salad

  • 3 medium apples (Mcintosh)
  • 1 cup thinly sliced celery
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 4 leaves of romaine or iceberg lettuce as serving bowl, optional

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Source: unknown

serves 4

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Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

Marian served a Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing as a side dish at the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors.

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This Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing goes well with the Marinated Baked Pork Chops.

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons diced onion
  • 3/4 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup and 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
  • mix salad vegetables torn into bite-sized pieces (we used baby spinach)
  • 2 1/2 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
  • 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons dried cranberries
  • 5 to 8 apples, peeled, cored and diced
  • 5 to 8 pears – peeled, cored and diced

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Source: this recipe is adpated from allrecipe.com

Serves 8

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Apple Crumble

Marian prepared a simple Apple Crumble for dessert at the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors. This is just perfect as fall is the season for apple harvest.

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This Apple Crumble is easy to make and the topping is flaky. A scoop of vanilla ice-cream will make this Apple Crumble a perfect dessert any time.

Ingredients

  • 5 to 6 medium size apples, peeled, cored and sliced
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 cup water

For the Crumble:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup butter, diced
  • 1/4 cup oats
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar

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Source: Marian

Serves 4 to 6

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