I have for you more pictures of apples from my day trip to Bilpin with Aussie Apples.
Aren’t apples the cutest?
Meanwhile, I am on a much needed vaycay, split between a cousin’s wedding in India and some serious chill time (both literally and figuratively) at a friends’ place in the UK.
See you all in March!!
This month’s Sweet Adventures Blog Hop theme is Childhood Favourites, hosted by Sophie from the Sticky and the Sweet. The theme set my mind racing. After all, aren’t we all spoilt for choice when it comes to the sweets we were introduced to as kids? For me as a small child in India, there were gems (Indian equivalent of Smarties), 5-Star Chocolate bars, Amul Pista ice-cream and countless traditional Indian sweets. When I moved to Australia, there was even more sugary goodness to be discovered and toffee apples, Chupa Chups, push pops, Buffalo Bill ice-creams and Jelly Pythons came into the picture.
It is a special quality of childhood enjoyments that often when we try them as adults, we either don’t quite enjoy them as much, or we do but are old enough to know how appallingly lacking in nutrition they are (I’m talking to you, sherbies and redskins!).
So I decided to choose something that I would happily indulge in even now, and not just for the sake of nostalgia. Two things, to be precise. The first is that bubbly pastry pocket of lava-hot goodness, the McDonalds Apple Pie.
The second is a South Indian dessert that my mum has made for as long as I can remember. It is mostly made as a religious offering on festival days a few times a year, making it all the more appealing. Sliced bananas are tossed in jaggery (unrefined Indian brown sugar), cardamom and fresh grated coconut. Sometimes a little saffron or a handful of raisins and cashews are sprinkled in. It is good fresh, amazing half an hour later and a sludgy, syrupy mess the day after, if it even makes it that far.
I used apples instead of bananas for two reasons. They stand up better when baked in pastry than do bananas, and I had an abundance of them after going apple picking in Bilpin last week. So it was that two desserts from my two worlds came together in these hand pies.
The pastry was the trusty sour cream pastry from Smitten Kitchen that I have now used several times because it is so good. In hindsight though, a traditional, thinner shortcrust pastry may have suited these pies better, although I’m certainly not complaining abut the outcome. The apple pie filling was enhanced by the coconut and almost caramel-like jaggery, with a bite of cardamom just to remind me exactly where I’m from.
Apple, Coconut and Jaggery Hand Pies
Makes 12-15
Get:
Filling:
5 or 6 small red apples, diced (I used Aussie Royal Galas)
1 ½ cups (about 300g) of firm Jaggery
1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
The insides of 15-18 cardamom pods, powdered
Generous pinch saffron strands
3 quantities of this pastry (leave out the ajwain and cumin seeds and only use 1/2 the amount of salt)
Make:
Toss the filling ingredients together in a bowl and allow to sit for 10-20 mins.
Roll out the pastry to 4-5mm thickness. Cut out shapes of your choice. I went for squares, so I cut strips of pastry that were about 25 cm x 10cm. I spooned the filling into the middle of one side of the pastry, leaving the edges clear. I then folded the pastry over to cover the filling.
Use your fingers, then a fork to press around the edges. Place the pastries in the fridge again for about 20 mins. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200 C.
Place the tray of pastries in the oven and bake for about 20-25 mins or until the pastry is crisp and cooked.
What I forgot to mention in my first blogiversary post is the lovely, warm community of bloggers that this little hobby-whatsit has opened up to me. And what I deliberately left out, partly because I’m only just getting a taste of it and it seems almost too good to be true, and partly because they really are just a bonus, are the experiences I have been opened up to in the world of food.
Last weekend was a perfect combination of both if these fringe benefits, as I and a few other food bloggers headed off on a day trip to the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. There, in a town called Bilpin, we got to visit some beautiful apple orchards and meet the growers who bring some of the sweetest, juiciest apples to our fruit bowls.
There is a joy in being able to trace the food we eat from its beginnings, through its journey and finally onto the table. At Saliba Fruits, second generation farmers Joe and Lily Saliba welcomed us warmly and took us through the process of apple farming. We first meandered a little through the orchards, admiring the squat, fruit-laden trees in their fruit-bat proof netting like babies in a nursery. What got us all a little bit excited was what we dubbed the ‘apple day spa’, a conveyor belt system where the crisp red globes were first washed, dried, polished, hand-sorted and packed into baskets for market. And when we found out that the little guys actually get their own sunscreen to protect them from the harsh Aussie sun? Well, we were positively gushing!
From there, we visited Bilpin Springs Orchard, a pick-your-own farm. Cedric greeted us and led us around more apple trees, as well as trees laden with lemons, peaches and navel oranges. He told us about the farm’s preference for organic farming methods whenever possible. He explained to us how to choose a good apple and what to avoid. He then set us loose among the trees and armed with baskets, we set about picking to our heart’s content.
Around us, families were doing exactly the same. Parents filled baskets while their city-slicker kids revelled delightedly in the fresh air and wide open spaces interrupted only by trees whose branches were weighed down by things you could eat. It was good, clean, safe and inexpensive fun and something I would recommend to anyone.
A satisfying day in all, and made even more so by the armfuls of apples that we all went home with. It turns out an apple a day really could…you know, do what they say, as the little guys are packed with vitamins and minerals that help lower the risk of some chronic diseases. Their skin especially is rich in poly-phenols and antioxidants, which we all know is a good thing. Aussies, look for the Aussie Apples sticker as not only are they home-grown, but they are seriously delicious fruit.
Breakfast is an important meal for me and not only does it have to be filling, but also tasty and transportable, given my tendency to be running late at all times, to everything! These breakfast jars incorporate apples, berries and yoghurt, making them an anti-oxidant and protein party in a jar.
I was a guest of Aussie Apples, Saliba Fruits and Bilpin Springs Orchard. This is not a sponsored post and my opinions are my own.
Apple, Berry and Yoghurt Breakfast Jars
Makes 2 generous serves
Get:
2 small Aussie Apples, diced small
1 tsp coconut oil or butter
1/2 cup frozen berries of your choice
1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rice syrup or honey
Greek yoghurt (about a cup)
Small handful pepitas
Small handful shredded coconut
Make:
Preheat the oven to 160 C. Place the pepitas on a tray and toast in the oven for about 5-7 minutes, or until they have swelled. Add the coconut and bake for a further minute or so until it has browned slightly. Toss both in a bowl with 1/4 tsp cinnamon.
In a non-stick sauce-pan, warm the coconut oil. Add the apples and cook for about 5 mins. Add the berries, syrup, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and vanilla extract. Stir and cook on low-medium heat, covered for 5-7 mins or until the apples are tender. Allow to cool to room temperature.
In jars or glasses, layer first the fruit layer, then the yoghurt, then fruit again, then yoghurt. Top with the toasted pepita and coconut mixture and drizzle with any leftover sauce from the fruit mixture. Remember to take a spoon and eat in the car whilst stuck in traffic.
“It’s a bit industrial”
My Irish friend said, spoon in one hand, plate piled high with rice, rasam and pickle in the other.
“But I like it!”
The first taste of Indian pickle to the unaccustomed palate must be akin to the initial experience of India to the first time visitor. A little too much of everything, all at once. Pungent. Industrial. A cacophony of noise, each note seemingly competing with the other. Car horns and auto-rickshaw toots. The cries of hawkers, beggars and babies. Bollywood music and giggling school girls. Smells……the hunger inducing ones like fresh pakoras fried at a roadside stand mingling with that of diesel fumes from passing trucks and dung from more slowly passing cows. Dust clinging to skin with the cloying humidity. The sun’s unrelenting blaze reflected from every metallic surface.
It is the saltiness that registers first, which goes some way to balance the tartness that follows. The spices sing their soprano notes and for a moment the tongue is seized up with the too muchness of it all. A soft, yielding flesh made so by its’ weeks to months of steeping in acidic juices. The liquid gold gravy with its’ many-layered flavours coats the tongue and finally electrifies the back of the throat with a flash of heat.
An assault to the senses and chaos to a first-timer, but one where everything, somehow, just works.
This is a cheat’s mango pickle, but one that delivers all of the palate stimulation that properly pickled pickles do. A chop and stir fry later, you have in your hands a spicy, sour condiment that can be eaten traditionally with rice, spread onto a sandwich or relished however you please.
Quick Mango Pickle
Makes about a cup
Get:
2 raw green mangoes, flesh diced into 1-1 1/2 cm pieces
3 tbsp vegetable, sunflower or canola oil
1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp asafoetida
2 1/2 tsp rasam powder
1 tsp chilli powder
2-3 tsp salt
Make:
In a large, non-stick fry pan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds and reduce the heat to low. Once they have popped, add all the other spices except for the salt. Stir gently and fry on low heat for about 1 to 2 mins.
Add the diced mangoes, then 2 tsp salt and toss to coat the mango pieces in the spices. Cook on medium heat for 1 minute. Taste and add a little more salt if the pickle is still very tart. Toss and cook for another few seconds or until the mango pieces are tender, but not falling apart.
Store in clean, dry, airtight jars and refrigerate for up to a month.
Notes:
Raw green mangoes and the spices, including rasam mix are available at Indian grocers. The more green and tart the mangoes are, the better.
You could probably use coconut oil if you wish, but that will impart its own flavour to the pickle.
onesmallpot 