Maple and Apple Muffins

Maple and apple is a  combination we love and this recipe is perfect for this time of year. Hearty and filling, plus it brings back memories of the fall harvest and the spring harvest (sugaring) that's yet to come.

This past fall we had a wonderful crop of apples. The trees were laden with fruit just beckoning to be picked. We pruned heavily a few years ago and now the trees are bearing fruit on nearly every branch. The picking was easy, even for the little ones. Most of the apples were blemish free - too tempting to wait to eat. The jars of applesauce, and recipes like this are reminders of this fall's bountiful harvest.

 

Though we've had more snow than we'd like in the last couple of weeks - it now comes up past the windows on the house - we're ready to start the sugaring season. We've spent the last couple of months preparing, tapping and checking to make sure everything is ready. It's flowed a little over the last weekend, but hopefully it'll really break open soon. 

In the meantime we'll wait and enjoy the wintery weather with eager anticipation of what's to come - and yes we'll eat some maple apple muffins, too.

Maple and Apple Muffins

Adapted from Mennonite Country Style Recipes and Kitchen Secrets

1 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup Granulated Maple Sugar
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/2tsp Salt
1 Cup Rolled Oats
1Egg
1 1/4Cup Milk 
3 tbsp Olive Oil
4 tbsp Apple Sauce
1 Apple Cored and Chopped
3/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts
Topping
3 tbsp     granulated maple sugar
3/4         cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp      flour
1 tsp      melted butter


Grease one muffin pan. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Mix together the dry muffin ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl mix together the egg, milk, olive oil and apple sauce. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, mixing only until the dry ingredients are moistened. Fill muffin cups 2/3rds full with muffin mixture.Spoon topping over each muffin. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Autumn Harvest Stew

Autumn harvest stew is rich and sweet with the flavors of fall - apple, maple, cranberries and root vegetables. It's a wonderful meal for a cold and rainy day, which we've had a lot of here. It's perfect for simmering on the stove, in fact, it's adapted for doing just that.

My mother is an avid wood stove cook - cooking nearly every meal from September to June on the wood cook stove. She always has something simmering or baking, and who wouldn't with the stove running day and night. She carefully manages the fire - selecting the right type of wood (maple wood burns hot and long, birch quick and fast, ash and apple somewhere in between), positioning the stoves damper just so to further manage the fire (with damper wide open she gets the fire 'cranking", with it closed down she can hold the heat steady). Failure to pay care with the wood cook stove usually results in an under cooked dinner or burned dessert.

As a result, my mother has perfected several recipes as wood stove fail-safes - recipes that simmer for long periods of time with rich aromas, but need relatively little attention and are forgiving when it comes to cooking temperatures. Autumn Harvest Stew is one of those recipes.

Autumn Harvest Stew
Adapted From Rachael Ray
2.5lbs Pork Roast or Tenderloin cut into 1-2 in. cubes
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat or White Flour
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
3 Small Onions cut into quarters
3 Leeks sliced
1 Bulb of Kohlrabi cut into 1" pieces
5 Potatoes cut into 1" pieces
2 Bay Leaves
1 Tsp Allspice
2-4 Springs of Thyme
3 Tbsp Maple Sugar or 1/4 Cup Grade B Pure Maple Syrup
2 Cups Apple Cider
3 Cups Chicken Broth
1 Cup Fresh Cranberries or 
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries 
4 Unpeeled Apples cut into 1-2" chunks

Heat a heavy bottomed pan on high heat with the olive oil (1/2 the olive oil). Place the cut pieces of pork in a resealable plastic bag (1 gallon zippered works well) along with 1/2 cup of flour. Shake bag until pork is evenly coated. Once the pan is hot add a third to half of the pork  and brown on all sides. It will take 5 to 8 minutes depending on how large your pieces are. Remove from the pan and set aside. Repeat with remaining meat until all is cooked. Set aside the pork.

Place the remaining olive oil in the pan and add onions and leeks saute until soft 3 to 5 minutes. Add potatoes and kohlrabi and cook an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Add bay leaves, thyme, all spice, maple sugar, apple cider and chicken broth. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to incorporate all the bits from the browning of the meat and the cooking of the veggies. Add the pork back into the pot.

Simmer the stew for at least 1 to 2 hours. 10 to 30 minutes before serving add the apples and cranberries. Serve when the apples and cranberries are soft - making sure to remember to remove the sprigs of thyme and bay leaves before serving.

Peach Apple Crisp with Maple Whipped Cream

I love crisps and cobblers. Unpretentious, simple dishes that showcase the flavors of the fruits they top. With a bounty of apples this fall and a few peaches imported from warmer climates I couldn't resit making this peach apple crisp for a recent dinner. The topping is drier, a little less sweet and more crumbly than most, but it works perfectly when topped with maple whipped cream. 

Peach and Apple Crisp

4 large firm apples peeled, cored and sliced

2 large peaches peeled, pitted and sliced
1 cup granulated maple sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole rolled oats
1/2 cup butter

Pre-heat oven to 350 degree F. Place the sliced peaches and apples into the baking dish. In a mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, oats and butter. Mix until the butter is evenly distributed and the ingredients resemble a coarse meal. Spread evenly over the sliced fruit. Place in oven and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Serve with maple whipped cream. 

Maple Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream 

2 tablespoons maple sugar

Whisk maple sugar into the heavy cream. Continue whisking the mixture until it forms peaks.