Apple Mustard

That's right. Apple mustard!

Thanks to my homework due tomorrow, I didn't have enough time to cook a full meal tonight. So instead I decided to make up some mustard. Since I have a few apples sitting in my fruit basket that are bruising faster then I can eat, I decided to try an experiment.

Not a recipe... just some guidelines

Peel and slice an apple, and boil in a sauce pan with a spoon full of brown sugar. Reduce to thicken.

Combine 1 part mustard power, 1 part flour, 1 part vinegar

add 5~6 parts apple syrup

slowly add oil while beating with an egg beater until it thickens

add 1~2 pinches of salt

So how does it taste??? Well it's mild, which is what I was going for, but a little too mild I think. The recipe needs some fine tuning for sure. I was thinking cinnamon, but that may be too much. Mustard is a condiment after all and shouldn't steal the show.

Garlic salt? Onion salt?? I think something like that is more appropriate. I'm going to let it sit overnight to see how the flavor develops. You can't quite trust the taste of fresh mustard. So maybe tomorrow night I'll have some more insight into what it needs.

Spiced Caramel Apple Tart

I've had this recipe in my mind for the past 3 weeks. I was invited to a cook out for the holiday weekend, where everyone should bring a desert. So I put two and two together and finally made it. The tart came out better then I expected for my first try, but I think it needs some tweaking. This will make a great fall desert and I think I'll take one home to my family for Thanksgiving.

The crust is adapted from a recipe in 'Simple to Spectacular', and has a nice almond base which really makes the tart. The filling is an after though here. I used a new type of apple called 'Jazz' which is the closest I can find to a braeburn apple around me right now. However, I feel any apple in the family would work well including granny smith. The filling also has a spiced caramel sauce to bring everything together.

Ingredients:

2 apples (braeburn, granny smith, jazz)
2 egg yolks
1 /2 cup chopped almonds + some for garnish
1/2 cup flour
2 sticks butter
1/2 pint cream
2/3 cup powdered sugar + 1 tbs
1 cup brown sugar
nutmeg
cinnamon

For The Dough:

Chop almonds and 1tbs powdered sugar into a fine powder in a food processor. Combine powdered sugar, egg yolks, almond powder, and 1 stick of butter in a bowl. Gradually work in the flour and work the dough for a few minutes. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 20 mins.

After chilling, flatten the dough and roll out until you have a circle a bit larger then your tart pan. Lightly grease the pan, then lay the dough over and press flat on the bottom and sides. Cut off the excess and use it to patch any tears in the crust.

For the filling:

While the dough is chilling remove the apple skin and core, then slice thin (~1/8"). Lay the apple slices in a circular shape around the edges and inside of the crust. I was able to make two outside and inside layers with 2 apples.

Put the remaining butter and the brown sugar in a sauce pan on medium heat and stir together. Then add the cream, nutmeg and cinnamon to taste. Stir on med heat being careful not to scorch the cream or burn the sugar. When all the sugar has dissolved, the sauce is ready and you can slowly pour it over the apples in the crust. Add some almonds on top to garnish.

Bake for 30 mins at 425F, turning the tart halfway through baking.

Enjoy!!!!