Yesterday I mentioned that my mom and I worked in tandem to create an apple crisp for dessert on Christmas. We both compromised a little on our traditional method and I think our team work was a success, as I do believe that this was one of the best apple crisps every (although my dad pointed out that the best one is typically the one right in front of you, so I could be a little biased).
You see, I like to use mostly oats in my topping and she likes to use mostly flour. We came together and used about half oat flour and half pure rolled oats. The combination gave it a sense of pastry with the crunch and seeming-virtuousness of granola. I cut the pieces of apple a little smaller than my norm under her tutelege and I convinced her to season both the apples and the crumble topping. We both agreed to use toasted pecans in top instead of walnuts. What turned out was a dish that was tender and sweet without being overwhelming. It felt like it could be a really decadent breakfast item (and would be great with plain yogurt instead of the vanilla ice cream we ate it with). Check out our recipe after the jump.
One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is the leftovers. Especially the leftover desserts. When I was a kid, the morning after Thanksgiving and Christmas we'd be allowed to have a slice of pumpkin pie or a scoop of apple crisp for breakfast. My normally healthy eating mother permitted this sugary deviation from the norm by focusing on the fruit or squash used to make the dessert and not the butter and sugar.
To this day, I love to ladle out a big scoop of apple crisp into a soup bowl for breakfast after Thanksgiving. I'll nuke it for a minute, just to take the refrigerator chill away, and top it with a spoonful of plain yogurt. It's the very best version of fruit, granola and yogurt you've ever had and it makes it possible to eat leftovers for every single meal of the day.
If you're looking for a good recipe for apple crisp, check out the one I made on the last episode of Slashfood in the Kitchen.
Peterson Farms, Inc. has come up with a ready to assemble meal kit for an apple crisp desert, sold in the refrigerated section of your grocer. The desert kit contains 1 pound of peeled and sliced apples, 8 ounces of crumb topping, and a 3.2 ounce spice packet. You just mix the apples and spices in a baking dish, cover with the crumb topping, and bake for six ample servings. I looked up the nutrition information and was impressed that the levels of sodium (120mg) and fat (9gm) for a 4.5 ounce serving were reasonable and it has no cholesterol and plenty of vitamin C (60%rda).
Peterson Farms claims that this is the first meal assembly kit that comes with peeled and sliced apples. This is the same company that provided the peeled and cut apples for McDonalds Apple Dippers. I haven't tasted this product but will try it. The two minute assembly time sure beats the 15 minutes I take once a week to prep my own from scratch. Of course with mine I use Honey-Crisp and Winesap apples grown locally and just picked fresh. But for those pressed for time and wanting a hot, fresh cooked desert, this may be a great product.
As it looks likely that we're not doing a pies-and-crisps day for our next Slashfood theme, I'm going to go ahead and give away my secrets to the perfect fruit crisp, nicely illuminated by home*economics' crisp-off. Robin tests three recipes and the Apple-Strawberry Crisp from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone wins the award for its "toothsome, slightly sticky, darker-tasting topping." She learned that brown sugar (instead of white), the inclusion of oatmeal, and lots of butter were all characteristics of her favorite crisps.
In my own adventures with crisps, I've learned that lots of butter, and therefore lots of topping, are key. My own favorite crisp topping doesn't even include sugar (I designed it during my pregnancy, when I gave up refined sugar entirely); it's the large quantity of butter and oats that makes me smile.
Peterson Farms, Inc
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