Get Cooking_ 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen - Mollie Katzen [110]
2. Pour the lemon juice into a large bowl. Peel, core, and slice the apples, and as you cut them, add the slices to the bowl. As the apples accumulate, toss them with the juice every now and then. When all the apples are sliced and tossed, sprinkle in the granulated sugar and gently toss again. Transfer the apple mixture to a 9-by 13-inch pan, and set it aside.
3. Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave (30 to 60 seconds on high power), or in a small saucepan over low heat.
4. Without cleaning it, use the empty apple bowl to combine the oats, flour, salt, and cinnamon, stirring them together briefly. Crumble in the brown sugar, then pour in the melted butter, scraping it all in with a rubber spatula. Use a spoon or fork to mix the butter into the dry ingredients until uniformly blended.
5. Spread this mixture over the apples in the pan, patting everything down as you go so it forms a solid topping, as evenly distributed as possible.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is crisp and golden and the apples are bubbling around the edges. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
GET CREATIVE
You can make this with different kinds of fruit. Try swapping in pears for some of the apples. In the summer, you can make this with peaches, nectarines, apricots, and/or plums (any combination). The total amount should be 8 to 10 cups of sliced fruit. (With the summer option, sprinkle the cut fruit with 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour and toss to coat, so it won’t end up too wet.)
Add up to ¼ cup minced crystallized ginger to the topping mixture.
Add up to ½ cup chopped walnuts or almonds or whole pine nuts to the topping mixture.
Toss up to ½ cup dried cranberries or golden raisins with the apples before spreading them in the pan.
Make this vegan by using canola oil instead of butter.
cherry clafoutis
Makes 6 servings
Pronounced “cla-foo-TEE,” from a word meaning “to fill” in a regional French dialect, this easy farm-style French dessert is a cross between a cake and a jumbo fruit pancake or a filled popover, studded with black cherries. You just beat together a quick crêpe-like batter and pour everything right into the pan. You make it with frozen pitted cherries, which require no work other than opening the bag—not even defrosting. If nice fresh cherries are in season, use them instead of the frozen ones, but you’ll need to pit them (cherry pitting gadgets are available in some kitchen supply stores). It’s fun to bring the whole pan to the table straight from the oven so your guests can admire this beautiful, dramatic-looking dish.
2 tablespoons butter
1½ cups pitted black cherries (frozen/not defrosted, or fresh)
1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ cups milk
3 tablespoons sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1. Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 350°F. Put the butter in a 9-by 13-inch baking pan, and place the pan in the preheating oven for a minute or so to melt the butter, keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Remove the pan from the oven, and carefully tilt it in all directions to let the butter coat the bottom and the corners. Set it aside.
2. In a small bowl, toss together the cherries and the 1 tablespoon flour, and let this sit for a few minutes while you prepare the batter.
3. Pour the milk into a blender or a food processor fitted with the steel blade. (Or just pour it into a large bowl.) Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt, and blend (or whisk) until smooth. Sprinkle in the remaining 11/3 cups flour and process (or whisk) just until the flour is incorporated. (You may need to stop and scrape the sides with a rubber spatula to get all the flour mixed in.) There will be some lumps, and that is fine.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and then scatter the coated fruit randomly but evenly over the batter.
5.