Thursday, October 28, 2010

Some Days I'm Good

And then there are the other days.

My husband has been gone on business trips a lot. I really hate when he goes. But I was good on Monday and Tuesday. He left and I ate well. I was going to make myself a nice Pasta Foozle (maybe better known as Pasta y Fagioli). Or pasta and beans.

The recipe starts off easily. You make a miropoix or since it is an Italian dish I suppose I ought to call it a soffritto. Which is just a fancy way of saying saute some diced onions, celery, and carrots. Then add the beans that have been soaked. I used my Ottawa Cranberry beans that I showed you on Harvest Monday. Add some broth and seasonings (I chose oregano and a bay leaf) and simmer until the beans are done. After add some diced tomatoes or tomato sauce. Or in my case both since I had some nice Cherokee Purples ripe on the counter that really needed to be used up but not quite enough. Throw in a little pasta and you are done. But somehow as the beans were cooking I thought that some hot Italian sausage from the farmers market would taste really good in it. So I tossed that in. I added just one link. But it really turned the soup into a very spicy dish. Regular pasta seemed a bit bland at that point. So I added tortellini. That was good but it needed something else. So I added some Greek yogurt at the end to add a creamy flavor.

Oh it was so good. And good for me too.

Then came Wednesday. My husband was home. I was thinking some fish from the farmers market. But then he called an said he was stuck in a meeting late that day and today too. It made me sad. So I made something else for dinner.

Yes this is an upside down caramel apple cake. I usually make it with a strudel topping, but caramel seemed so much more apropos for a day that I'm going to be bad. So caramel it was. I had two slices for dinner (yes as my dinner, not dessert) with some really good sharp Vermont cheddar. At least I make my cake with some whole wheat flour and it used a lot of apples - apple butter and grated apples in the batter, and the yummy sliced caramelized ones on top. OK so it also had half a cup of butter and a cup of brown sugar in that recipe but whose counts calories when your husband deserts you*.

And since I just know I'll get asked what the recipe is I'll give it to you.

Daphne's Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

Preheat the oven to 375F.

  • 1/4c butter
  • 1/2c brown sugar
  • 2 apples peeled and sliced

Put the butter and brown sugar in an ovenproof 10" frypan over medium heat. Start slicing up the apples. When they are sliced, cover the pan evenly with the slices. Then start mixing up the batter. Keep cooking the apples while you do this.

  • 1/2c flour
  • 1/2c whole wheat flour
  • t baking powder
  • 1/2 t baking powder
  • 1/2 t salt
  • t cinnamon
  • 1/4 t nutmeg
  • 1/2c applebutter (but you can sub applesauce)
  • 1/2c brown sugar
  • 1/2 t vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4c melted butter
  • 3/4c grated apple

Mix the dry stuff together(except the sugar) and the wet stuff together (plus the sugar), then mix the both of them together. Take the fry pan off the heat and spread the batter over the top. Put in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Once it is done let it sit for about five minutes and then invert it onto a plate. Then if you are like me fix the apples that fell off during this process.

Then cut and put onto a plate and eat with Cabot cheddar cheese for dinner. Err. OK you can have it for dessert if you want. But really don't you want to eat it for dinner too? Especially if you are all alone and no one can see you?

*puns are always intended

14 comments:

  1. Haha. Dessert for dinner is yum. I sometimes eat Ramen noodles when I have to eat lunch by myself at home. And most times I don't even cook it. Eat it straight from the packet.

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  2. That's not bad! Being bad is eating a bag of chocolate chips. Not that I would ever do such a thing. It all looks absolutely delicious!

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  3. Yum! I'd so eat that for dinner if no one was around:)

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  4. That looks fantastic.
    I'm eating potato chips for dessert. We all have our days.

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  5. I would be inclined to do apple cake if my husband desserted me as well, his loss I say... Well, actually, he's watching THE GAME tonight with a friend (go Giants!) and I'm dining alone and darn it there's no apple cake in sight. But, hey, the leftovers in the fridge aint too bad. And there's fresh home made oatmeal cookies for dessert!

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  6. Hi there, just popped over via Annie's Kitchen garden. Love your blog and I will be back. Sadly I am away from my garden over the winter months so I have to enjoy what everyone else is doing. Have a good weekend. Diane

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  7. Who cares whether its for first course or pudding... not me. If it tastes good, then eat it! And for breakfast too!

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  8. Though the apple upside down cake looks delicious I am drooling over the Pasta y Fagioli! I see some in my future!

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  9. I don't see a problem with either meal :)

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  10. Becky and meemsnyc, thanks

    Mustard, Ack usually I only see backpackers do that. In fact I think that is the only time I've eaten ramen raw. I found that cold instant potatoes were easy too. Anything not to work when I'm backpacking.

    The Mom, lol I never eat a bag of chocolate chips. If I'm going for plain chocolate I'm going to eat the good stuff. My husband has to have bought me every variety of chocolate on the planet since I used to be a real chocoholic. One Christmas he gave me a big box of chocolates from around the world. Yum. My favorite all time one though is Endangered Species milk chocolate. It has 48% cocoa solids in it, which is the highest I've ever seen for a milk chocolate. It is so good.

    Karen, lol I'm calling it my serving of fruit.

    Stefaneener, we do. Recently it has been the Halloween candy getting to me. I've got to stop eating it - but I probably won't.

    michelle, Yum oatmeal cookies rank up there as one of my two favorite cookies. I ties with ginger cookies.

    Diane, Oh how sad to move away from your garden for the winter. Not that I won't be buried in snow all winter long, but still sad not to be near it.

    Jan, That I've done a lot. Breakfast cake is pretty normal though infrequent in our house. Usually when the kids come home my son will make his coffee cake. And sometimes I'll make apple cake.

    Fred, pasta and beans go very well together. Well beans go so well with so many things. They are one of my favorite foods.

    Laura, :>

    GrafixMuse, my stomach didn't either. The next night though I had the cake for dessert. And at least I had my veggies.

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  11. I completely support your decision to have Cabot cheese and dessert for dinner. I might be a little biased, though :) Our farm family owners appreciate your support, and so do I!
    ~Jacquelyn

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