Quick Apple-Bacon Guac

Guacamole is one of those comfort foods for me. It seems nourishing and refreshing at the same time. I like it simple, just fresh avocados with salt and pepper. Or I like it fancy, with tomatoes and sour cream and onion. The only way I don't really like it is sweet. (When I lived in Brazil, they always tried to serve me avocado mousse or avocado smoothies or even just sliced avocados with sugar on them. Sorry. Doesn't work for me.)

This one's got bacon, so how can it go wrong?? And apples too! The watery crunchy crispness of the apples contrasts perfectly with the soft, mellow avocados.

Ingredients:

3 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 avocados

1 firm apple, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Cut your avocados in half. Remove the pit and scoop out the flesh. Smash together.

Add the crumbled bacon and the apple slices.

Add salt and pepper if you so desire and serve with tortilla chips. Wha-la! You're done! Told you it was quick.

Tastefully,

Tamara 

Caramelized Apples and Rice Pudding

Another fabulous French recipe! Rice pudding with caramelized apples.

Ingredients:

for the pudding:

1/2 C arborio rice

4 C whole milk

1/3 C sugar

2 t vanilla

for the apples:

2 sweet apples

1/4 C sugar

lemon juice

1 T butter, cut into three pieces

1/2 C apple juice

1/2 C heavy cream

Bring 3 cups of water and salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the rice and boil for 10 minutes. Drain and reserve the rice. Put the milk and sugar in the pan and bring to a boil. Add the rice and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook the rice for 40 minutes or until most of the milk has been absorbed, but not all of it.

Add the vanilla. Put the pudding in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it cool to room temperature.

Prepare the apples right before serving. Peel and dice the apples. Put the sugar in the middle of a nonstick skillet. Moisten with a splash of lemon juice and turn the heat to medium-high. 

When the sugar starts to bubble, tilt the pan and spread the sugar around.

Add the butter. Stand back! It might splash.

Add the cider and the salt, then the apples. Bring to a boil. Cook, stirring often, for 8 minutes or until the apples are tender.

Pour in the heavy cream and cook another minute. Turn into a heatproof bowl and let cool until just slightly warm.

Spoon the pudding into bowls and place the caramelized apple mixture on top.

Also excellent cold!

Tastefully,

Tamara

Creamy Apples and Chicken

From time to time, I'll pick a country and we'll have food from there for a week. Last week was French week. So among several dishes I made was this amazing one, Creamy Apples and Chicken. The silky mushrooms combined with the cream and slightly sweet apples, served over rice, was an instant hit with my family. Win-win.

Ingredients:

flour, for dredging

salt and pepper

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved (I halved these the long way to make the breasts skinnier so they would cook faster)

2 T butter

2 T olive oil

1 large apple or 2 small

1 medium onion, finely chopped

8 mushrooms

1/3 C chicken broth

2 T apple juice/cider

2/3 C heavy cream

Peel and dice the apple(s).

Clean the mushrooms with a paper towel.

Stem the mushrooms. Slice them and then cut them in half.

Season the flour with salt and pepper. Pat the chicken pieces dry and dredge in the flour.

Put a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon each butter and oil. When the butter is melted, slip the chicken pieces into the pan. 

Cook for three minutes to brown, and then flip them over and cook another three minutes.

Add the rest of the butter and oil. Clear a spot in the pan and add the onions, apples, and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Coat the fruit and veggies with the butter and oil until they are glossy.

Mix the additions with the chicken and cook for 1 minute.

Add the broth.When the broth bubbles, lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for ten minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Turn the heat up again, add the apple cider, and simmer for 1 minute. Add the cream and keep the heat on until the cream reduces by about a fourth (about five minutes).

Serve with rice and vegetables!

Tastefully,

Tamara