Apologies for the many delays in updating the blog. As may be noticed it is a little more difficult at present to provide reviews of restaurants (thank you COVID 19, not) for while we have eaten some takeaways, most of them have been from restaurants we have reviewed previously e.g. Blackfire, Sammy’s, et al. which impressed us when we ate there.
I have to admit to a certain amount of laziness in testing recipes, but there is also the added fun of trying to obtain ingredients. Recently I almost did a random recipe on a mushroom lasagne but as every mushroom used was a substitute, as were a number of other ingredients, it did not seem fair. (It was a very good lasagne but was very labour intensive.)
This recipe is the opposite of labour intensive. There were apples in the fruit bowl which were nearly past their best and not wanting to waste food while Harper was hinting often that Apple Pie is a favourite), the challenge was to find a recipe which did not mean a visit to the supermarket.
(Please, not the supermarket! I’ve recently changed where I shop for food to a place which is much quieter than the larger supermarkets, but it does not always stock the things required. But it is an independent supermarket which is preferable to the big chains.)
The Recipe
Enough waffling and onto the recipe. Basically there are 3 steps:
1. Make the pastry and let it rest before rolling it out and lining the ‘Crisp” dish.
2. Peel and cut the apples and arrange them on the pastry before sprinkling with sugar and cinnamon.
3. Cook in the microwave.
Once I made pastry very often but not often recently. (However, we recently purchased a pie maker, so who can tell?) Sometimes it seems it is made weekly but there has been quite a gap of late (because flour is not always available).
The Preparation
Despite leaving the butter out of the refrigerator for a few hours, it was hardly soft. In some ways it almost seemed it hadn’t softened at all. This can be explained by the recent cold weather (as it will soon be Winter in Australia), which made rubbing the butter through the flour a little time consuming.
The quantity of water mentioned in the recipe was too little so another half a teaspoon was added in order that the pastry did not crumble when it came time to roll it. Then another half a teaspoon and so on until the pastry became malleable.
Unfortunately the recipe did not mention that the pastry should be covered while it rest because it is known to dry out which again makes it difficult to roll. Reusable beeswax material was used to cover it while it was in the refridgerator.
Rolling the pastry is always a good way to work out any residual anxiety/anger etc. but to not be too enthusiastic in ridding yourself of these emotions as it may have an adverse effect on the pastry. It is best not to think of politics or world events while doing so.
Peeling and cutting the apples, it was time to reflect how often the microwave is used for cooking. At one time it was used regularly until someone complained.
Arranging the apples was fun and soon the sugar and cinnamon decorated the top and it was placed in the microwave.
The Cooking
After cooking for 10 minutes the apple was still a little under cooked. The pastry remained pale and the pie was returned for another 6 minutes. After this the apple seemed cooked.
The Eating
It looked okay, the pale pastry was somewhat off-putting, but it was crisp and did not crumble. The filling looked appealing.
While it was not the best apple pie I’ve ever eaten, it was quite nice.
Harper yummed the pie down. Lindsay abstained as sweet things do not tempt Lindsay.
The Verdict
The cookbook will be kept as it does have recipes specifically for the microwave. There may be further recipes attempted in the future depending on availability of ingredients, time and inclination.
Thank you to everyone who reads this blog. I hope you and those you care about are safe and well.
Clean the Plate 