Caramelized apple pie

Dear readers,

Today I tought about the caramelized apple pie recipe, really tasty and quite simple to prepare: your weekend will be much sweeter!

Let’s go step by step to prepare the recipe and you will see it will be less difficult than expected.

Ingredients (12 slices):

2 egg yolks
2 entire eggs
200 gr of flour (7 oz)
200 gr of sugar (7 oz)
50 gr of melted butter for the mixture (1.8 oz)
60 gr butter to melt in the pan for the “caramelized” process (2.1 oz)
80 gr of sugar to caramelize the apples (2.8 oz)
Juice of half a lemon
250 gr of thinly sliced ​​apples (moisten with a few drops of lemon juice to prevent them discoloring) (8.8 oz)

Preparation

Beat and mix the two egg yolks in a bowl, the two whole eggs and 200 grams of sugar.
Melt the 50 gr of butter for a minute in a pan, at low heat, being careful not to boil it and blacked: let cool before adding it to the mixture or else you could risk to “cook” the mixture and make a real mess!
Add the cooled melted butter to the mixture, the juice of half a lemon, the flour (a little at a time) and stir gradually.

Meanwhile, cut the apples into thin slices and moisten with a dash of lemon juice, to prevent them blacken. Turn on the oven at 180 °C (356 °F) to preheat it.
Melt the 60 grams of butter in a pan of 30 cm (11 inches) diameter and then add the 80 grams of sugar: caramelized the sugar until it has reached a golden color, taking care to stir it very often, otherwise you could burn the sugar.
At this point, place the apples (as shown in figure) into the pan, pour the mixture and bake it for 45 minutes at 180 °C (356 °F).

Overturned the cake, using a plate and being careful not to burn your hands with the melted butter that may leak during the operation!

We’re done, now we could enjoy the piece of cake!

Conservation

You could store the Caramelized apple pie in a sealed plastic or glass box in the fridge up to five days. I suggest you to warm a little bit the slice before eating to enjoy more the caramelized apple.

And the wine?

For the cake with caramelized apples, I picked the 2011 Chaudelune, produced by Cave du Vin Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle.

I chose the Chaudelune for its fruity notes of pear, apple and other white pulp fruits, which is well aligned with the main aroma of the caramelized apple cake, broadening the whole taste. Moreover, the softness of the wine surrounds and fits perfectly with the sweetness of the cake and the caramelized apples.

For more about the Chaudelune, have a look directly to the review here.

If you can not find it, I recommend a sweet wine that has similar characteristics to Chaudelune, a Moscato Passito di Chambave or a Verdicchio Passito. If you cannot find these two, I recommend a more common Passito di Pantelleria or Moscato di Pantelleria, both dessert wines, however, with different characteristics, since the predominant perfumes and aromas are related to apricot, peach and dried fruit: a pleasant pairing, but not superb as the first!

Baccalà Mantecato (Salted Creamed Codfish)

Dear readers,

Today I thought about another simple traditional recipe, with a delicate flavor, the Baccalà Mantecato.

You will need a few ingredients, and to speed up the preparation, you can use the salted codfish already soaked in water.

Ingredients:

400g of salted codfish already soaked in water
50ml of liquid fresh cream
50ml of fresh whipped cream
150ml of milk
Extra virgin olive oil
Seed oil
A tablespoon of chopped parsley
A clove of garlic
The right amount of Salt and pepper
Toasted Bread for the serving

Preparation

Place the salted codfish (already soaked) in the milk, in a heated pot over low heat.

Mix it slowly and let it boil for 10 minutes, until it is soft.
Drain the salted codfish and kept the warm milk for the final step.

Place the salted codfish in a blender, making sure to add gradually a bit of vegetable oil, then a bit of olive oil and the warm milk previously used.
Add a tablespoon of chopped parsley, salt, pepper and let cool the mixture.
At this point, making sure that you have previously cooled enough the mixture, whip the cream and add it to the mixture and stir gently.

We’re done!
You can taste the Baccalà Mantecato on toasted bread as in figure!

Conservation

You can store the Baccalà Mantecato for a maximum of two days in plastic or glass sealed jar in the refrigerator.

And the wine?

For the Baccalà Mantecato I chose a Cruasé Oltrepò Pavese 2009 vintage, produced by Bruno Verdi.

The Cruasé is a Metodo Classico sparkling rosé, obtained by vinification of Pinot Noir at least 85%.
From the beautiful grain and fine and persistent bubbles, this Cruasé Bruno Verdi has an excellent flavor, good freshness, good length and structure.
On the nose, aromas of lemon, lime and citrus fruits in general.
The palate is soft and has a good mousse that favors pairing with our recipe!

Bon Appetite!

Spaghetti with Anchovies in olive oil and cherry tomatoes

Dear readers,

For this weekend I though about a very simple and quick recipe to prepare (5 mins), but so much tasty, the Spaghetti with Anchovies in oil and cherry tomatoes!

Ingredients (for 2 people):

100g of cherry tomatoes (3.53 oz)
2 cloves of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
6 anchovies in oil

Preparation

Heat the olive oil in a pan and then put the two cloves of peeled garlic to fry.

Meanwhile, wash and dry the tomatoes and cut them in half.
Put the six anchovies in oil in the pan and “mash” them until they are “dissolved” in the oil.

Remove the two cloves of garlic from the pan and add the chopped cherry tomatoes.

Let the cherry tomatoes cook for 5 minutes over high heat till they seem as in figure below.

Serve the sauce on spaghetti: well, we’ve done!

Conservation

It’s better not to keep or store this sauce in the refrigerator: prepare it directly with the right doses!

And the wine?

For the Spaghetti with anchovies in oil and cherry tomatoes, I chose a simple wine, the Beaujolais Nouveau 2014 by George Deboeuf.

This wine is rather rounded and it has good alcohol percentage, good intensity and delicate tannin: this means that it matches the intensity of the flavor of the anchovies, the oily sensation and the cherry tomato, a tough ingredient in pairing food and wine!

At the nose, intense perfumes of ripe banana and ripe strawberries.

If you can not find it, I recommend other Beaujolais Nouveau or rosé wines with the same characteristics mentioned above. If you opt for a white, I recommend one who has a good persistence and intensity.

And now, enjoy!