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Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Bad weather, but the kitchen is lovely

We had single digits overnight, and about the same forecast for tonight. I texted, then left a message for my snow shoveller, the same who knocked on my door last fall and reminded me he would like all the extra money he could earn, and please don't forget him when it snowed.



There were about four inches for his attention, all day yesterday, but as mentioned, he did not show up or let me know. So I carved a path to get to the car that needed cleared off, headlights to tail lights, and windshield not the least of it. Bah, Humbug!

Except for a 10:30 doctor appointment, I would have remained home. Since I had to be out, I took my grocery list. There are enough groceries on hand to last to next week, when it will be in the forties all week. But I needed a reward for getting off my deck this morning.



Swedish Apple Pie: Hilary made this when I visited her. Twice!

8 medium granny smith apples, peeled, sliced and cored
1 Tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup white sugar
Pinch of salt
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 F
Spray a pie plate with non stick spray and fill pie plate 3/4 full with sliced apples
Sprinkle apples with 1 Tablespoon white sugar and cinnamon mix
In a separate bowl, combine pecans, sugar, salt, flour
Combine melted butter, beaten egg and almond extract
With wooden spoon, mix wet ingredients into dry. Mix well.
Spread the mixture over apples, gently.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until crust is golden.
Serve warm or cold, with whipped cream or ice cream. Or nude.

The original recipe called for 3/4 cup melted butter and 1 teaspoon almond extract. Experiment as you will; the recipe cannot be ruined.




In addition to being totally out of apples, I was totally out of Stamppot. Linda recently told us how to make this. Perhaps not that recently, as I've run through two or three pounds of potatoes. I bought a five pound bag today, and they're in the potato drawer.

Kale Stamppot

Boil 3 large potatoes covered with chopped bunch of kale on top of the potatoes until potatoes are done and kale is steamed. Drain off the water. Mash the two together. In the meantime, cut 5 slices of bacon into bits and fry crisp. Pour bacon and grease over potatoes and stamp the entire pot together.

As you can tell by my refrigerator shelf, I've expanded beyond kale to stamp. Even better, in my opinion, is chard. I've added carrots. I've added onion and garlic to the bacon. In the grocery store this afternoon, I even added two turnips to my stash. Linda told me sauerkraut makes a lovely stamppot. 

This will keep me well into next week, waiting for the snow to melt.

66 comments:

  1. Stay cozy and warm. The recipes look great!

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  2. Yum!!! The recipes DO look great. I envy you your snow. It's been unseasonably cold here these past two nights but not nearly THAT cold. Stay warm and cozy, my friend!

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  3. What completely different recipes. I've never tried anything like either one. Although I remember my mother making a cobbler in which you mixed up a batter, poured it into a casserole and then dumped a big can of any kind of fruit in it. The batter magically rose through the fruit and created a crust.

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    1. My mother used to make something like that. She called it Smush. It was good.

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    2. Clafoutis is similar...usually made with cherries but I've made it with tinned peaches here. Butter ther dish, fruit on, batter on the top.

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  4. I was just about to ask something along the lines of what Tom wrote. Is snow like that usual for this time of year or is it a surprise coating?

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  5. I wonder what happened to your snow shoveller? Hope it was something that was a one-off and can be overcome. We had rain, then snow, the other day and it made the car-cleaning hard :)

    I've never heard of stampot - sounds good and hearty and healthy and filling.

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  6. Your stampot sounds good. Your weather sounds horrible. I still think I'm going to prefer being hotter than hades in the summer, than have cold like the east is having.

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  7. I've never heard of stamppot, either. I"m going to try it, though! Why do they call it stamppot....do you weight it down after you mix it all together? Like press it or something then slice it like a pie? I think I need a visual.

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    1. I have a potato masher from my childhood that I use to stamp the pot.

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  8. Ah...got it. I looked it up. It's very hygge!

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  9. Your stamppot sounds like the stumpf made by Leo's Belgian family...and by us. Sliced onion and potato in layers, water just to cover and cooked down until the water is gone and the potato is soft..then mash together. You can do it with carrots, too.

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  10. We have snow and cold temperatures too....but if's winter after all. And I still shovel my own driveway and sidewalk. At this time of season I don't mind doing it, but I will feel differently by the end of February!

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  11. Your Stamppot sounds awfully similar to Irish Colcannon.

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    1. Of course! Cabbage could steam on the top layer as well as most anything else!

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  12. Gosh! I've never heard of a stamppot. Sounds very interesting. I sure hope your snow shoveler remembers to come and see you. Snow can be awfully heavy and back breaking.

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  13. Cooking is such a fun thing to do on a snowy day.

    Too bad about your snow man. If he decided to do some other job, he should have informed his customers. You were probably not the only one that he disappointed.

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  14. Thanks for the recipes Joanne and I love peering inside your fridge. These are so simple and winterish.

    I, too, love experimenting.

    XO
    WWW

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  15. In such a deadly cold, hot food is the only company... Enjoy

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  16. With your penchant for falling and breaking things I wish you could stay inside when there is snow or ice. The pie ;ools delicious and the stamppot sounds good too.

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  17. I hope your snow shoveller will appear for the rest of the winter. The apple pie looks delicious and the stampot looks like something I will try one day.

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  18. I have copied that pie recipe and will be making it this weekend! it's very similar to what my dad used to make, he used walnuts instead of pecans and always put some of the cake mixture in the pie dish before adding the apples and then the rest of the cake mixture. and we always ate it with cream. Yum.
    I hope your snow gets shovelled soon and often.

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  19. I'm tempted to try all your recipes! My son-in-law loves apple pie and I will make him yours when he gets back from deer hunting!!

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  20. Yum on both of your recipes. Must try that stampot sometime. Fascinated by it! Let's hope your snow shoveler resurfaces somehow or you guys don't get a lot of snow this year!

    betty

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  21. Good recipes. I've heard of the stamppot but never made it. I should try. And I really like the Swedish apple pie. Hope you get something good sorted for your winter snow shoveling!

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  22. The apple pie couldn't be any easier could it - beats me trying to make pastry:)

    We're still waiting for warm weather so I won't mind putting the oven on to cook this. I take it there's no way it would cook properly in the microwave?

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    1. I don't even try pie crust these days. I have a reputation to protect! That was my attraction to this. The first time I made it, I didn't even peel the apples. I was OK, but not to die for.

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  23. Hari OM
    Here in Scotland, veg mixed into tatties is called 'champ'. I am a huge fan of mashed potato with any vegetable or three mixed through, but instead of bacon I use cheese. Definitely suitable for this very cold snap that is grippig the whole of the Northern hemisphere now! YAM xx

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    1. I count bacon as a vegetable, so it can pass my door.

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  24. Reminds me of bacon hotpot. We have kale growing in the polytunnel at the moment and only l seem to like it. Love one pot cooking. It's what you need when it's cold outside.

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  25. Being from the Netherlands I have to add: stamppot can be made with many winterveggies. The potatoes are mashed with some butter and warm milk and then add the softly boiled veggies.You can use finely chopped kale (boerenkool) usually we eat that with a smoked sausage (rookworst). You can eat it with chopped carrots and onions (hutspot). You can make it with sauerkraut and rookworst. Usually it is accompanied with a beefgravy (not too thick). You make in the stamppot on your plate a nice little hole with the gravyspoon and then put in that little hole the gravy. As child we made little "dikes" around the gravy with the stamppot.

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    1. It's great to have additional details straight from the source!

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  26. 37 degrees here - too hot to cook! Have made gazpacho and a quiche, and that was an effort.

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  27. Snow - ick! Think I'll have to try the Stamppot - sounds very good!

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  28. That pie looks and sounds like something very worth making. Your refrigerator looks so different from mine! I have so many pickles and condiments. And your deck looks so different from what I see when I walk outside.
    I hope your shovel guy returns your call soon!

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  29. I am headed to the grocery today with a list of ingredients to make some low sodium meals for the HeWho. It is hard to find things that are quick and easy without a ton of salt. Trying to make them tasty is a challenge. My snow has melted and the roads are clear.

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    1. Stamppot with farmer's cheese, not bacon, would be tasty and keep him on his feet. So glad you hauled him through.

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  30. that must be a very deep pie plate if it takes 8 apples to only fill it 3/4 of the way. it sound really good. I'll have to try it. especially with the pecans. the stampot sounds good to but I don't think Marc would eat it.

    I guess I have no grounds to complain about the cold in the mid 20s to forties. it's currently 44˚ with a high of 47˚ and it's raining. all I can say is down here our blood is thinner.

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    1. It's just a regular old thrift store Pyrex pie dish. Eight apples make a great mound, and makes the finished pie look high, and full of apples, which it is.

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  31. The pie looks and sounds delicious

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  32. ...and for the kid to show up.
    Thanks for this great entry. The stampot seems like something G and I would enjoy. The potatoe soup too. I confess that I have my doubts about the kale. lol

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  33. Hope your new home is keeping you snug and warm Joanne? It looks pretty chilly out there.

    LX

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  34. sorry about the snow...it looks like it might try to kill you! Thank you for the recipe for the pie, I will try to make a couple for turkey day, I may succeed, though I am terrible at pastry making.

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    1. There is no pastry. It's a simple crumble. Win. Win. Win.

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  35. When it gets really cold, stampot's the only thing to warm you up. I love it with a crispy grilled slice of belly pork.

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  36. When there is snow on the ground, you made some real winners. We called it "champ" as well.

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  37. Single digits here in Belfast too, but no snow. There has been some snow in Wales.

    Strange that the snow shoveller seemed to be so keen to have some work and then didn't show up. Maybe he was just inundated with requests for help?

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  38. So do you dig out the stampot and fry it up or what? It sounds like a great idea but I don't have a clear idea how y ou are actually supposed to eat it. I thought of frying because we have something like that called Bubble and Squeak which is mashed potatoes and greens (leftover) fried up with leftover bacon.

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    1. The first night you put it straight into a bowl and eat it up. Add a bit of butter if your potatoes are dry.
      The second night, you can fry up the left overs, if any, in a bit of olive oil and butter.

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  39. That Swedish apple pie looks yummy!

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  40. Brrr. I am not looking forward to the snow and cold. I hope you can find a more reliable source to take care of your snow shoveling needs. Your Swedish apple pie looks amazing. Nicely done.

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  41. It all sounds so good...I hope you can stay warm.

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  42. Now that pie has pretty much everything in it I like...:)

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  43. We are all inspired by the foodstuffs. Did the snow shoveler show?

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  44. Perfect winter food! I will have to try that Stamppot - anything with potatoes is all right in my book.

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