Naked Apple Pie (real name: Fruit & Nut Baked Apples)

I am blessed with good people in my life - family, friends and even strangers that are eager to help.

Several years ago, two friends of ours took pity on us starving kids and got me a Crock-Pot for my birthday. I have since made many delicious stews with it and it gradually became as important as rick cooker for me. (If you are Asian, you know how much rice cooker is part of your life, and equally important as romantic relationships. LOL)

In supporting my Crock-Pot "hobby", Danny's mom gave us a Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Recipes book for Christmas. It's a small book with two dozen plus recipes; the best part is that every recipe only has four major ingredients.

Armed with the pot and the recipe, I set out to cook my first dessert, ever!!

All ingredients purchased.

* Couldn't find Rome Beauty or Jonathan apples, but the store-suggest Honeycrisp was great!
* I forgot lemon juice, so lime juice would have to do.

Step 1 - Take out the apple core and make enough room for stuffing-goodness.

Step 2: - Combine chopped apricots, walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon together.

Step 3: - Filling!
Step 4: - Put 1/4 cup of water in the Crock-Pot and stack the apples. Cook for 3 hours on low.

Ready for the taste test!

One for you, one for me... or maybe two for me. :-)

So good looking!

Yummy!

Tiffany

Baked Pork Chops with Apples

This was an idea I had based off of some stuffed pork chops I made last winter. Those are a little tedious to make and I didn't feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen after a long day at work. So this is what I came up with.

First, we tenderized the meat with our new totally awesome Jaccard meat tenderizer (now with even more blades!). (This was our first time using our new toy, thanks Danny and Tiffany!)


The I sautéed half of an onion with one cubed Granny Smith apple in 1 Tbls of butter and a little olive oil. After they cooked for about two minutes I added some dried Thyme and a pinch of salt.

Next, I made some room in the bottom of the pan and added the pork chops. I browned them for about 20 seconds on each side. Then I put the whole pan, covered, into a 350° oven for about 20 minutes. (picture is before they went in the oven)


We made some baked potatoes and corn to go with and dinner was served! It was very good. Chris really loved it. I think next time I would add a little liquid to the pan before putting it in the oven, maybe some chicken stock or white wine. The chops got a tiny bit dried out. Also, I think I would brown them for just a little longer. They tasted fine and you can't really tell in the pictures but they were a little washed out and pale when they came out of the oven. A little more golden crust would make them looked even yummier. Lastly, I would peel the apples next time.

Definitely a great quick dinner.