Applesauce + Cookies = Applesauce Cookies

So I made this big jar of applesauce a month ago when the whole blogosphere seemed to be posting apple related recipes. My confession is that I don't much like apples so for me to make something primarily with apple seemed like a waste of time, effort and materials. But then there are times when an idea just refuses to get out of your head despite all the practical reasons for not following through. So I had to had to make applesauce.  Since I have never tasted applesauce before - ya another confession ... I read a whole bunch of recipes, did not write any of them down. So in a minute I will tell you about how I made my applesauce, but for now just assume that I now have this whole bottle of applesauce in my fridge and I don't know what to do with. Well I went on a hunt for ways to use up applesauce and found this recipe for applesauce cookies on Tastes Better with Friends. I tweaked it a bit though not too much - the result floored us. I had halved the original recipe so the yield was around 20 cookies, and the two of us finished these in two days.

Well true to the spirit of the blog from where I picked up the recipe " Tastes better with friends", I am sending these cookies virtually to my dear friend 'S' and I really wish I was in India making these for her. For now enjoy these virtually 'S and you can pester 'R' to make it when her oven is not exploding ;)

Ingredients for Applesauce(Makes 450 gms or 16 Oz)
4 Apples peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Pdr
1/4 tsp All Spice
Juice of half lemon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes over medium heat. Cool & mash with a potato masher. Store refrigerated in a glass bottle.

Applesauce Cookies
Ingredients
1/4 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 C Applesauce
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Raisins
1/4 Cup Crystallized Ginger Pieces chopped fine (instead of nuts in the original recipe)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

Method
1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Cream butter, sugar then add applesauce and blend it.
3. Sift flour with baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Add the dry ingredients to the above mixture and stir until smooth.
4. Add the raisins and ginger pieces and stir until combined. At this point, this mix was more like a thick muffin batter than a cookie dough.
5. Drop by tsp onto a greased baking sheet spacing 2 to 3 inches apart. Bake about 12 mins or lightly browned. I baked for 14 minutes.
6. At this point I should say cool completely before devouring but I love warm cookies and these were so cake like in texture I couldn't wait ....

So Ms S here they come your way ..

Herbed Roasted Tomatoes

I have been making Herb Roasted Red Peppers for sometime now and keep them handy for making sandwiches and other stuff, I used to wonder if I could roast some other vegetables in a similar manner. Thanks to FoodBuzz, I came across Nancy of Spicie Foodie's post on "How to Roast Tomatoes". She is absolutely my kind of cook ;) I love her site it is sooooooo colorful. Lovely photos but I digress. Here's my version of her recipe.

Ingredients

8-9 Tomatoes

6-8 Pods Garlic

1 Jalapeno Pepper

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt

2 tsp Black Pepper

2-3 tsp Dried Italian Herbs

2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1 tsp Fennel Seeds

1 tsp Dried Parsley

Method

1. Preheat oven to 390 F. Spray a baking tray with cooking spray and keep aside.

2. Wash the tomatoes and wipe dry. Cut them into half and de-seed them.

3. Finely mince garlic, jalapeno pepper and take it in a small bowl. 

4. Add olive oil and all dried spices to the bowl and mix well.

5. Apply on the inside of the tomatoes and set them on a greased baking tray.

6. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes depending on size of tomatoes. They should be slightly browned and shriveled but not burnt. 

7. Allow to cool completely before using. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Note: Mine were still pretty juicy may be I could have roasted them for some more time.

Cheese Crackers

I recently joined FoodBuzz a foodie community website. I came across Kath's site through FoodBuzz and a couple of her recipes caught my immediate fancy. Anyone who knows me knows I am big cheese fan and for that matter so is my hubby. We enjoy our cheese and we pick up quite a variety on our travels. So when I came across Kath's post titled "Melt-in-your-mouth Homemade Cheese Crackers!" I just had to make them. I made some very minor modifications and used a different cheese as I was out of Tillamook Cheddar. So here's the recipe as I made it but do visit her site to see the lovely step by step pics.

Ingredients

1½ Cups (6 oz) grated Cabot Buffalo Wing Extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces

¾ Cup (90 g) flour, plus more for dusting

½ tsp salt * I omitted as cheese has enough salt

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 to 2 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease or line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add flour and spices. Now cut in the butter till you have a bread-crumb like mixture. Add cheese and mix it with a spatula or by hand.

3. Add milk one Tbsp at a time and knead the dough with light hands till it comes together to form a ball.

4. Roll out on a floured board with a rolling pin.

5. Cut into desired shape with a knife, pizza cutter or cookie cutter shapes. Poke a small hole in the center of each cracker.

6. Place crackers atleast 1/4th inch apart and bake for 12-15 minutes.

WARNING: These are highly addictive :)

Coconut Shrimp Poppers with Chili Mango Cream - From Pinch My Salt

I am regular reader / admirer of Nicole from Pinch My Salt. As soon as I read her review post for Coconut Shrimp Poppers with Chili Mango Cream I had it marked for a trial. Luckily for me, one of our close family friends came for a sleepover and wanted to have fish for dinner.

I had no clue to what kind of fish they would like except for a fact that one of their kids likes Shrimps. So Shrimps were definitely on my menu. I thought the recipe was mild enough for kids. I made these and OMG these poppers were a hit with kids and adults alike. The only teeny tiny bit I did not like was that the Shrimp took in a little too much oil - yes even after I used paper towels to drain off the oil. The dip was swoon worthy.

Adapted with some changes from Nicole's post . Watch Carmell Childs create these tasty poppers in her Real Women of Philadelphia video entry.

Coconut Shrimp Poppers with Chili  Mango Cream
Ingredients for the Chili Mango Cream
4 Oz of whipped Philadelphia Cream Cheese (room temp.)
1 large sweet ripe mango (mine wasn't so sweet)
2 canned pineapple ring
3 – 4 tablespoons Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
a pinch of salt
1 tsp of Crushed Red Pepper flakes

Ingredients for Shrimp Poppers
30 count Extra Large Shrimps ( Raw and De veined)
1/2 Cup Flour (seasoned with salt and pepper)
2 large eggs
2 Oz Philly Cream Cheese (at room temp) * Optional see notes below
1 lemon, zested
1 cup of Panko bread crumbs
1 cup of sweetened flaked coconut
Vegetable Oil for deep frying * Pour this just enough 'coz after all the frying it is unusable again

Method
For the Cream
1. Peel and dice mango into chunks; combine with pineapple ring and cream cheese and puree in mini blender until smooth. In a medium bowl empty the pureed fruit cream, add desired amount of chili sauce, salt, crushed pepper and mix to combine and chill.

2. Rinse and pat dry shrimp. Pour flour in a deep bowl and season with 1/2 tsp salt and a few twist of ground pepper. In a separate deep bowl, combine 2 oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese, eggs, and lemon zest; mix until incorporated. In a third deep bowl mix together Panko crumbs and coconut.
3. Toss shrimp in flour; shaking off excess, dip in egg, then lightly press and cover entire shrimps in coconut mixture; set aside on large platter.
4. In a deep saucepan, heat oil till ready for deep frying.  Fry shrimp, 4-5 at a time, for 1/2-1 minute or until golden brown.
5. Place on a paper towel-lined plate and immediately sprinkle with sea salt to taste (I forgot to add the salt so it tasted a bit sweet). Serve warm with chili mango Cream.

Notes:
1. I cut down the cream cheese in the chili mango cream as I thought it was a tad bit too much
2. I forgot to add the sea salt after frying but I do think it would have made a difference.
3. I ran out of my egg and cream cheese mixture towards the end, and I then quickly made a little additional but skipped the cream cheese. I couldn't much make out the difference. So really the 2 Oz cream cheese for dipping shrimps is according to me optional.
Enjoy !!!