Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed!
Murphy's Menu
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Johnny Appleseed was born in Leominster, Mass., on Sept. 26, 1774. His real name was John Chapman, but he was called Johnny Appleseed because of his love for growing apple trees.
He was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced the apple to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He planted nurseries in the places he went, built fences around them to protect them from livestock, and left the nurseries in the care of a local family who would then sell the trees to neighbors to plant.
Johnny would travel back through the same areas, tending the nurseries and providing advice on care of the trees.
Thanks to Johnny, America has enjoyed the bounty of apples for generations!
Mary Stauffer came into the paper the other day and I asked her for some apple recipes, which she readily obliged me with — thank you, Mary! Mary’s favorite apple is the Jonathan.
MARY’S APPLE-SOUR CREAM BAKE
1 12 cups sifted flour
1/4 margarine, soft
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 med. apples, cored and diced
Topping:
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
Cream the sugar and margarine together. Add egg and beat. Add sifted dry ingredients, then add the milk. Beat until smooth. Stir in the apples and pour into a greased 8 in. square pan.
Prepare the topping by lightly beating the egg, then beating it with the sour cream. Spread this on top of the batter, then sprinkle with sugar and walnuts. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Yum!
MARY’S APPLE
PUDDING CAKE
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup margarine
1 egg
2 cups apples, cut up
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
1 cup flour
1 scant tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Cream the sugar and margarine together, then add the egg. Mix in the remaining ingredients and pour into a well-greased 9 inch pan. Bake at 300 degrees for an hour, then start testing for doneness. Top with whipped cream or this rum sauce.
MARY’S RUM SAUCE
3/4 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
4 Tbsp. margarine
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup hot water
1 Tbsp. rum or rum flavoring
Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Don’t let the sauce boil. Add the rum, stir to combine, and let it cool slightly. Serve warm on the warm apple pudding and you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.
This is a great “comfort food” recipe. You can prepare the apples ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator until ready to bake. They'll brown up a little bit from exposure to air but that won't matter once they're all bubbly, brown and delicious, hot out of the oven!
BAKED APPLES WITH BROWN SUGAR
2 Golden Delicious apples
2 to 3 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. light brown sugar
Ground cinnamon, for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash the apples and cut them in half, removing the core. Place apples cut-side up in a baking dish. Divide the butter among all four, filling the hole left by the core. Top each apple half with a tablespoon of sugar and dash of cinnamon.
Bake until the flesh is tender and they're bubbling, about 30 minutes. Serve hot with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!
How about some moist apple muffins from breakfast? I love these, and they freeze pretty well, so you can make a batch and just pull out one or two each morning and toast them up. I like using tart apples, so I tend to go for the Granny Smiths, although I am developing an affinity for Jonagolds and Fujis.
MURPHY’S CINNAMON APPLE MUFFINS
4 cups of apples, peeled, cored, chopped
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
Topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
6 Tbsp. butter
This makes about 24 muffins. Lightly grease the muffin tins (I use paper muffin cups, so I skip that part).
In a large bowl, beat the eggs until fluffy. Add the oil and beat until combined. Add the vanilla, almond, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, mixing thoroughly.
Sift together the flour and sugars, then mix them into the batter just until blended, then beat them on high until the batter is smooth — it will be very thick. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Gently fold the chopped apples into the batter, and spoon batter into the muffin pans. For the topping, the butter should be at room temperature. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle this on top of each muffin, then bake them about 25 minutes. The muffins should feel firm when you touch their tops — if they’re a little springy, them bake a few more minutes.
Remove from oven, cool five minutes on a rack, pop one out and eat it while it’s hot. Delicious!
Next week we’re talking about what happens to your food-life when you have Type 2 diabetes. There are lots of things you can do with your diet to manage Type 2 diabetes without insulin or avoid developing it in the first place. Curious? Let’s get cooking!