Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Here is a super retro recipe that I found in one of my vintage cookbooks. I was so excited to find The Meats Cookbook by Southern Living at a book fair I visited several months ago. What could be more exciting for a southern gal than a whole cookbook of meats?

This recipe captures some of my favorite fall flavors - absolutely delicious! The pork is tender and juicy, sweet with the flavors of the apple juice and cinnamon. The sweet potatoes melt in your mouth. And the apples? Let's just say it's like having dessert built-in to your meal!

Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Adapted from The Meats Cookbook by Southern Living

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large pork tenderloin
2 cups milk
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 medium apples, peeled and cored
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons raisins
2 large sweet potatoes, quartered
4 large marshmallows

Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet on the stove. Meanwhile, dip the pork in the milk. Mix the flour with the salt and pepper and cinnamon, and dredge the pork with the flour mixture. Brown the pork in the skillet over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, fill the center of the cored apples with the brown sugar and raisins, and place the sweet potatoes and the apples in your crock pot. Add the pork and any drippings. Pour over the remaining milk and cover.

Cook on low for about 6-8 hours or on high for about 4 hours. Place a marshmallow on each apple just before serving (optional).

Tip: You could easily adapt this recipe for a dutch oven by adding all your ingredients to the pot after browning the meat. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Applesauce Spice, and Everything Nice

These perfect little guys are the best for popping into your mouth as you run out the door in the morning. Hot out of the oven, they fill the house with an unbelievably comforting scent of apples, spices, and homey goodness. Their edges are ever so slightly crispy, their centers are as moist and light as a cloud. You are going to

Applesauce Spice Muffins
from my Auntie Heather

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups applesauce
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, if desired
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large electric mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar at medium speed. Add eggs one at a time, then add the applesauce, mixing to combine.

In a separate blow, conbine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Add to the creamed mixture, stirring unti lcombined. Stir in nuts, if desired.

Fill well-greased mini-muffin tins 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 14-15 minutes.

This batter will keep for up to 1 week in the fridge. The muffins also freeze very well. Pop them straight into the freezer when they come out of the oven, then package them in freezer-safe packaging. Store for up to 3 months.

Apple-Cheddar Turkey Burgers

Here is another of our favorite turkey burgers that hubby and i love to grill up on a mild spring evening. The idea for the grilled granny smiths was inspired by a Bobby Flay recipe that I came across - but we changed the cheese and added some extra flavor to the burger patties. The ingredients may sound like an odd combination but trust me, dear readers - they come together beautifully!

Apple-Cheddar Turkey Burgers

1 lb. ground turkey breast meat
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 small egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup onion, minced and lightly browned in a pan with a bit of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
A pinch of dried thyme or sage or poultry seasoning
1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced cross-wise
4 large slices extra sharp cheddar cheeses
4 buns, toasted
Grilled sliced onions for topping, if desired

In a medium bowl, use a fork to lightly combine the turkey meat, the olive oil, the Worcestershire, the egg, the browned onion, the salt and pepper, the garlic powder, and the poultry seasoning. Divide the meat into 4 equal parts and gently form into patties.

Heat your grill to medium heat. Lightly spray the patties with cooking spray, and put them on the grill. Cook on both sides until the meat is done all the way through - it will take about 4-6 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, spray the apple slices with cooking spray - grill on both sides until slightly caramelized - about 2-3 minutes per side.

Broil the buns with the cheddar cheese for about 2-3 minutes, if desired.

Assemble your burgers, placing the grilled apples on top of the cheese. Top your burger with more onions, if desired. Serve with your favorite sides - enjoy!

Mardi Gras with Danish Ebelskivers

So: Ebelskiver. Say it with me: "able-skeever" - yes!

These delightful little pastries are actually spherical Danish pancakes that have a filling in the middle. Ebelskiver means "apple slices" in Danish, and you will sometimes see it spelled "aebelskiver." As you might have guessed, apples are one of the traditional fillings that you will find inside an ebelskiver.

How do you make these little puffs of joy? With an Ebelskiver Pan, which can be found at most cooking stores. I received mine as a gift last year from my sweet sister-in-law, who is also an excellent chef! Here is what it looks like:

A quality that I absolutely love in a dish is when you can make it savory OR sweet. And ebelskiver definitely fit the bill on this one. You can fill them with savory fillings like swiss cheese and ham or cheddar and bacon, or you can fill them with sweet fillings like fruit or chocolate. Here is a list of great fillings that we have tried:

Savory Fillings

• grated swiss cheese and diced ham
• grated cheddar cheese with diced bacon
• your favorite shredded cheese
• cream cheese or laughing cow cheese
• herbed goat cheese
  

Sweet Fillings

• home-made stewed applesauce
• pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds
  
• raspberry preserves
• chocolate chips
• fresh blueberries
• raspberry preserves and chocolate chips
• nutella

This sweet-or-savory combination made them perfect for dinner on fat tuesday. We always have a traditional meal of pancakes for dinner on Mardi Gras, and what could be better than savory filled pancakes for dinner with sweet filled pancakes for dessert???

Danish Ebelskiver
Adapted from a Williams-Sonoma recipe

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling of your choice

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, granulated sugar and salt.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the egg yolks and buttermilk. Whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/2 of a teaspoon butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan.

Place over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour one tablespoon of batter into each well and cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Gently add your desired filling on top of each puff.

Next, top each filling with one more tablespoon batter. Using 2 wooden skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more.

Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and fillings.

Serve your savory ebelskivers with whatever side you like - we had extra bacon on the side and some homemade stewed applesauce.

Dust your sweet ebelskivers with confectioners' sugar and serve warm with maple syrup.

Makes about 40 filled pancakes.

Moon-Washed Apples of Wonder

This is the most wonderful, moist, dense, and deliciously cozy cake you have EVER put in your mouth. The perfect end to a hearty winter meal.

This recipe comes from my mom's sister - my sweet Auntie Heather. She is another one of the many great cooks in my family, so watch for more recipes from her in the future! You can tell how much we love this recipe by how worn and stained the recipe card looks.

Auntie Heather's Apple Cake
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
3 large, tart cooking apples - peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a large bundt pan and set aside. In a large electric mixer bowl, beat vegetable oil and eggs on high speed for 3 minutes. Add the salt, baking soda, vanilla, sugar, and flour, and blend on low speed until incorporated. With a wooden spoon, fold in apples and pecans. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Brown Sugar Glaze
1 stick of butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Put all ingredients in a small saucepan, and place over medium-low heat, stirring until melted. Increase the heat and continue to cook until mixture reaches a boil. Allow to boil for one minute. Remove from heat and allow the glaze to cool for 20 minutes so that it can thicken. Then spoon it over the cake so that it drips lavishly down the sides.

An Apple a Day

My husband loves to cook up some apples around this time of year. It makes the house smell amazing, and his recipe is delicious! It's great as a snack on its own, as a side to pork chops, as a topping on some vanilla ice cream, or as a sweetener for your morning oatmeal.

Homemade Stewed Apples ~ Homemade Apple Sauce

1 cup of water
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

Heat up the water in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until it is simmering. Stir in cinnamon and cardamom.

Pour in the apple slices.

Turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered, for at least an hour - until the apples are tender and the water is nearly gone.

You can also do this in a crock pot - just cover the mixture and turn it on low for 4-8 hours.

If you want to make applesauce out of the stewed apples, simply blend the mixture in a food processor or blender. For lumpier applesauce simply blend using your mixer.

Cozy Winter Dessert

People often ask me when I became so interested in baking and cooking. I usually say "pretty much since I was tall enough to see over the counter." But that's not entirely true, because I used to love to pull a stool up to the counter in the kitchen to help my mom with whatever she was baking.

It was for this reason that she enrolled me in a baking class for kids when I was about 8 years old. Our teacher held the classes at her house. I was soooo excited sitting around her big kitchen table for the first class, where we received a folder of the recipes we'd be making each week. And the very first entry in the folder was for Apple Crisp.

My recipe for Apple Crisp has changed over the years - to be honest it often changes from crisp-to-crisp based on what type of apples I have around the house, what spices I have on hand, etc. But here is my basic go-to recipe that I am happy to share with my dear readers!

Oatmeal Apple Crisp

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup salted butter, well-chilled
3 McIntosh apples - peeled, cored, and sliced
1 Granny Smith apple - peeled, cored, and sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar. Using a knife, cut the butter into this mixture in thin tabs. With a pastry cutter or a fork, blend the butter into the oat mixture until it is well-combined and crumbly.

Toss apples together in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla, tossing the apples until they are evenly coated. Pour the apples into your prepared baking dish. Sprinkle oat mixture over the top, spreading evenly. Bake in preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until apples are bubbling and crisp is well browned. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Freshly whipped cream spiked up with a little sugar, vanilla, and Irish Whiskey is divine!