New England-Style Blueberry and Apple Pandowdy

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We are home again, a bit jet-lagged, several pounds heavier and brimming with a trove of memories that rival the weight of Midas' gold. The two munchkins you see above managed to keep us all entertained with their curiosity, good natures, and general love of silliness. You can imagine the giggles that erupted when they learned there was a dessert called a pandowdy. They quickly put the word to their own use and their latest epithet is pandowdy do-do head. I suspect our Pilgrim forefather's are rolling in their graves with each utterance of the new curse.

A pandowdy is a fruit dessert that is sweetened with maple syrup and topped with a layer of pie crust, biscuit dough or a mildly sweet cake-like batter. The crust is obviously where variations come into play. After it is baked, most folks break up the crust and push parts of it into the fruit mixture to give the dessert a messy or dowdy appearance. Pandowdy is an old New England dish that was born of necessity. It uses extremely basic ingredients and the use of syrup harkens back to the days when white sugar was expensive or unavailable. I cheat a bit and use both sugar and syrup in my version of the recipe. Despite that, this is not an overly sweet dessert. I like to serve it warm with a good vanilla ice cream or a dollop of sweetened whipped cream. I hope those of you who have never prepared this simple dessert will give it a try. I know you will enjoy it. Here is how it is made.

Blueberry and Apple Pandowdy...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
5 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter or spray an 8 x 8-inch baking dish.
2) Combine apples, blueberries, maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon in a large bowl. Mix well. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Cover dish with a sheet of aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
3) Meanwhile, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Whisk to combine.
4) Combine milk, egg, butter and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Pour into dry mixture and stir to combine.
5) Spoon batter over apples and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

If you have enjoyed your visit here, I hope you'll take a minute to...

      

One Year Ago Today: Pan Grilled Shrimp with Barbecue Spices

Two Years Ago Today: Thai-Style Green Beans

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Four Years Ago Today: Tomato Brunch Sandwiches

Clam Chowder

From the kichen of One Perfect Bite...In a perfect world garlic would be peeled and minced as needed, chicken stock would bubble gently on the stove, and kitchen shortcuts would be unheard of. I've been blessed with a near perfect life but it's spent in an imperfect world, so shortcuts abound in my kitchen. I not proud of them, mind you, but they are a real part of my life and there are nights that dinner would never make it to the table without them. I share them when I think they might be helpful, but for the most part they are my secrets and I reveal them in the same way you peel an onion, a layer at a time. Having said that, I suspect it won't surprise you to learn that I smile when the pros talk about shucking oysters or picking crab. I think it's important to know how to do those things, but, in the great scheme of things, I don't think it's necessary to actually do them. My bad attitude extends to clams as well. For years, I refused to make chowders with anything other than fresh clams and I'd pay premium prices to have them opened and chopped. My fishmonger loved to see me and my wallet coming. I still prefer to use fresh clams, but several years ago the warehouse stores started carrying restaurant-size cans of chopped clams and I have had them in my pantry ever since. They really are an acceptable alternative to fresh clams in dips, spreads, fritters and chowders. One of the problems that empty nesters encounter is the quantity of food that is produced when standard recipes are followed. Chowder is no exception. Several years ago Cook's Illustrated developed a chowder that used canned clams and was scaled to feed two people. It's a treasure of a recipe and if you enjoy chowder I hope you'll give it a try. A careful reading of the recipe will show it can easily be scaled up or down. I've made it for eight and I've made it for one. It works every time. There are a few things I want to share with you. I use 1/3 cup of drained, chopped clams for each can the recipe calls for. I use 1/4 cup finely chopped onion for each person I'll be feeding. One of the current oddities in recipe development is the push to list ingredients for some by weight rather than measure, while still calling for ballpark-general measures like half an onion or juice of a lime in others. What size onion? What size lime? I digress. This is a really nice recipe and those of you who try it will love it. The chowder is best made with heavy cream but it is workable with light cream or half-and-half. Here's the recipe.

Clam Chowder for Two...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:
2 (6.5-ounce) cans minced clams
1 (8-ounce) bottle clam juice
Water , if necessary
2 slices thick-cut bacon (about 2 ounces), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 onion , chopped fine
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
2 large red potatoes (about 3/4 pound), scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 - 3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

Instructions:
1) Drain clams, reserving juices. Add bottled clam juice to reserved clam juice to measure 2-1/2 cups (if short, add enough water to make up difference).
2) Cook bacon in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat until beginning to crisp, about 5 minutes. Stir in onion and cook until onion has softened and bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes.
3) Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and coat vegetables, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in clam broth. Stir in potatoes, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
4) Stir in clams, cream, and parsley. Return to a simmer briefly, then remove from heat. Discard bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Yield: 2 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Ginger and Clam Soup - RasaMalaysia
Linguine and Clams and Garlic White Wine Sauce - The Red Spoon
Cuban Clam Fritters with Cilantro Mayonnaise - Lazaro Cooks
Steamed Clams in a Beer, Lemon and Garlic Sauce - Boston Whine and Dine
Spicy Asian-Style Noodles with Clams - Very Culinary
Clams and Mussels in Tomato Broth - Magiandobene