Welcome Autumn with Fall Fruit Bread

Welcoming in cooler weather with a baking spree.

Welcome to Autumn! 

While the first day of autumn is technically not until next week Tuesday, everyone else seems to already be on the fall flavors bandwagon. We're getting tired of lagging behind. If The-Big-Coffee-Chain-We-Cannot-Name can start offering pumpkin spice lattes in AUGUST, we’re sure we can give you a recipe based on in-season fall fruits a few days ahead of schedule.

We haven't offered you fine readers anything sweet lately in the recipe posts, and the collective sweet tooth is starting to make some noise around here. So this week's recipe is a fruit based dessert. Or maybe breakfast; we certainly won't tell anyone how or when to eat their baked goods.

If you're lucky enough to have an orchard nearby, head out and grab some fresh apples or pears! They're both in season right now, as are cranberries (which, unfortunately, only make their appearance in their dried form in this recipe). You might make it an adventure in cooking with the family. If not, it's fine to just pick up a few fresh fruits at the farmer's market or local grocery store. You can even get away with using canned goods for this recipe if you're short on time. But whichever kind of fruit you start with, you'll find yourself needing a food processor or blender.

This is a big batch recipe; it'll make a loaf for you and a loaf to give to your neighbor! Alternatively, keep it all for yourself - and if you and the family don't eat it all up right away, you can wrap the second loaf in foil and plastic and put it in the freezer for later.

Fall Fruit Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup pureed apple (or unsweetened applesauce) *

2 cups pureed pear **

1/4 cup dried cranberries

* 2 large apples, or 3 medium apples

** 5 average pears, or two 14-oz cans of pear halves in juice or syrup, drained and rinsed

Let's start with the scariest part of this recipe: the purees. If you've started with fresh apples and pears, you'll have more steps than the folks who've opted for canned goods - but this is all part of the fun.

Bonus: if you're baking with kids, this can be a good teaching opportunity for fractions and conversions. Measure out your cut fruit to track your progress as you go.

Readers who have chosen to use canned goods should skip down to Step 4.

Step One:

Wash all of your fresh produce, please! Apples and pears sold in grocery stores often have a layer of food-grade wax that can complicate this recipe.

Step Two:

Core and slice your fresh apples and pears. Thinner slices will cook up quicker, but thicker slices are good for a chunkier texture. Whether or not you peel the fruit is also up to you - keep all the nutrients by leaving peels intact, or create a finer texture and uniform color by removing skin.

Step Three:

Toss all of your cut fruit into a pan and add just enough water to cover. Cook over medium heat 10-20 minutes, until pieces are tender.

Step Four:

Drain your fruit, either from the pan you've cooked it in or from the can it arrived in. Put all the apples (or applesauce) and pears into a blender or food processor. Blend until you've reached your desired consistency.

Step Five:

Sift together all of your dry ingredients. Whisk your eggs in a separate dish and add the eggs, fruit and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients slowly. Try to avoid over-mixing; an over-mixed batter makes a tougher, chewy cake. If your batter looks heavy, dense, or dry, you can add a tablespoon of water or milk at a time until it reaches normal cake batter consistency. Fold in your dried cranberries.

Step Six:

Grease two loaf pans and fill each to about 2/3 full. Avoid overfilling - an overfull loaf pan can create a nasty mess in your oven if the batter overflows while cooking. If you still have batter left over after filling two loaf pans, consider making a few muffins or a mini loaf.

Step Seven:

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. You should not need to make any time or temperature adjustments for dark/nonstick pans versus glass or aluminum. Just make sure to test with the toothpick trick before removing the loaf pans from the oven - some loaves are a little picky and need slightly more time than others.

Make sure to let them cool at least ten minutes before attempting to turn them out. If you're working with silicone pans, you may need to let them cool completely before the loaves will release without crumbling.

Serve as it is, still warm from the oven - fresh baked goods are tough to resist. On the second day, we prefer to cut it into slabs, toast for a few minutes in the toaster oven and add a pat of butter and a dollop of jelly.

A warm kitchen, and the smell of something you've made at home, and the chance to share with people you care about are the best autumn memories you'll fall back on when the weather changes... But we'll probably still dream about the pumpkin spice drinks from big chain shops, too.

Don't forget if your current washer is giving you trouble and you don't want to replace it you can always give us a call and we'll help you get it back and running. You can place an appointment on our web page or give us a call at (214) 599-0055.

Try Eggs Creole for Sunday Brunch

Welcome back everyone! With summer just around the corner, we wanted foods that make us think of lazy summer mornings. We went digging through our family recipe books and found this week’s recipe for Eggs Creole. 

Ingredients

3 ¾ cups water

¾ cups  regular grits, uncooked

1 cup diced smoked sausage - ¼ inch pieces

¼ cup shredded Cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp butter

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 large egg, beaten

1 Tbsp milk

¾ cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil

Poached Eggs

Creole Sauce

Instructions

-Bring your  water to a boil in a large saucepan; then gradually stir in grits and return to a boil. 

-Cover, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until done. (Where done here means: the grits are soft and tender, and ‘feel’ different when you stir a spoon through them. ) 

-Remove the pot from the heat; stir in sausage, Cheddar, butter and salt. Spoon into a lightly greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan, pressing firmly and smoothing the surface. Cover and chill for 24 hours. 

-Turn grits out onto wax paper. Cut out 12 (2 ½ inch) rounds with a biscuit cutter, reserving remaining grits for other uses. 

-Sprinkle the rounds with flour, a light dusting, not a thick coat. 

-Combine egg and milk; dip rounds into egg mixture and dredge in breadcrumbs. 

-Pour oil to a depth of 1 inch into a large, heavy skillet. Fry the grits rounds in hot oil over medium-high heat 1-2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels. -Place 2 rounds on each plate; top each with a poached egg and Creole sauce. Serve immediately. 

Poached eggs 

Not sure how to poach an egg? Here’s how the process works. 

-Start by checking how fresh your eggs are. The fresher they are, the better they will hold together. You can see how to do this over at The Kitchn. 

-Next up, grab a pot with tall straight sides, and fill it with 3 inches of water. 

-Set your water to boil and add a mild vinegar to the water, for example rice wine. It won’t flavor the egg, but it does help it to stick together. 

-Wait until you see tiny bubbles at the bottom of your pot,but not a full roiling boil. Now reduce the heat low enough that you’ll keep that simmer going. 

-Now crack your egg into a bowl or a ladle and slip it gently into the water. 

-Leave it in the water for 2 minutes if you want the yolk to be still runny, or 3 minutes for a firmer yolk. Timing is crucial, so a timer on your phone or stove would be helpful. 

-Using a slotted spoon remove the egg from the water and set it to the side. 

-Repeat the process with the remaining eggs. 

Creole Sauce

1 medium onion, cut into thin strips

1 medium green pepper, cut into thin strips

2 stalks celery, cut into thin strips

2 cloves garlic minced

1 bay leaf

2 Tbsp butter 

2 tsp paprika 

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 cup tomato juice

1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

1- 1 ½ Tbsp hot sauce

1 ½ Tbsp cornstarch

½ cup water

Cook the onion, pepper, celery, garlic and the bay leaf in butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until vegetables are tender-crisp. Stir in paprika, tomatoes, tomato juice, Worcestershire, and the hot sauce; simmer for 5 minutes or until moisture is reduced by one-fourth. 

Combine the cornstarch and water, whisking rapidly. Stir into sauce and return to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Remove and discard bay leaf. Serve warm. 

Notes 

If you don’t have any Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs on hand, you can make your own. 

This video from Alton Brown over at the Food Network is our favorite way of doing it. (And not just because he’s amusing to watch!) 

What do you think about this week’s recipe? Let us know over at our Facebook page, we’re eager to know what you think. Or if you have any suggestions for themes or recipes you want us to check out, let us know in the comments! We’re always interested in hearing from you. 

Don’t forget, if you have any problems with your appliances, you can always give us a call ((214) 599-0055) or set up an appointment with one of our technicians.  We care about our clients in Garland and the surrounding areas, and if you need assistance with your appliances, we want to help.