Cranberry Apple Caramel Cups

Cranberry Apple Filling

• 4 Apples (about 1 apple per person), thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup dried cranberries (soaked in hot water for 15 minutes before using)
•  juice from 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Pastry Cups

• 1 package of puff pastry
• 2 cookie cutters, same shape but one bigger than the other
• egg wash = 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water

* These little pastry cups are great for a million uses (soup, ice cream, and winter stews)! They are really simple to prepare and you can really make them your own. we decided to use pumpkin shaped cookie cutters for the fall season but you can really do anything! make sure you work with the pastry while it is still a little frozen and not completely thawed. It can be a little tricky if you wait until its really soft. You also want to use cookie cutters that if you put the smaller one inside of the larger one you get about a thumbnail of space in between each one.

Caramel Sauce

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

* Working with hot sugar can be a pain in the rear end. It is extremely hot so be careful and never try to touch it with your hands, always use a spoon. When you are finished stick all your utensils into the pot you made your caramel in and fill it with hot water and simmer, it melts all the sugar off and makes it much easier to clean.

 

Autumn Vegetable Tart

Tomato Red Pepper Spread

• 1/4 cup roasted red peppers
• 1/4 cup roasted tomatoes
• 1 T garlic, minced

* for this recipe i decided to pre buy both the roasted red peppers and tomatoes, i have a fresh market and a whole foods in town that make their own in house and they are quite delicious! they are packed in olive oil with garlic and herbs which means they are bursting with flavor, to roast your own you can sprinkle olive oil and dried herbs of your choice on the veggies and roast in the oven on 350 for about 45 minutes

Autumn Vegetables

• 1 graffiti eggplant
• 1 yellow heirloom tomato
• 1 delicata squash

* these are the vegetables i chose, have fun with this recipe! go to the market and pick what looks good to you, thats what i did! if you know certain veggies take longer to cook than some others you picked then slice the ones that cook quicker a little bit thicker and the long cooking ones really thin, itll be great! make sure you get some that are all around the same thickness, your tart will be a little bit more uniform. 

Tart Crust

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• olive oil for drizzling
• goat cheese
• salt and pepper as needed
• 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water = egg wash

For the Tomato Red Pepper Spread

finely chop your red peppers and tomatoes with salt and pepper until it forms a smooth paste, you can even give it a whirl in the food processor, adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of the flavored oil from the package, mix your minced garlic in.

spread the mix evenly on your puff pastry rectangle leaving about 1/2 an inch around the edges for a nice crust.

For the Autumn Vegetables

take your thinly sliced veggies and lay them out along the tart in whatever pattern your heart desires!

drizzle with olive oil and salt + pepper, brush your edges with an egg wash and pop in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. top with pieces of goat cheese.

cool + cut + serve = enjoy!

xoxo calli

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Brown Butter Pumpkin Mac + Cheese

Cheese Sauce + Pasta

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 (1 quart) cups milk
• 1/2 cup cheddar, shredded
• 1 1/2 cup gruyere, shredded
• 1/4 cup soft goat cheese (of your choice, i chose a roasted garlic and herb goat cheese)
• salt and pepper as needed
• 1 lb cooked pasta (of your choice of course!)

Brown Butter Pumpkin

• 1 cup pumpkin, 1 small pumpkin will do, medium dice (avaliable at most groceries, near the winter squash)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• salt and pepper as needed

Topping Mix

• 1/4 cup cheddar, shredded
• 1/4 cup toasted bread crumbs (toasted in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes and cooled)

For the Brown Butter Pumpkin

before cooking your pumpkin we need to clean it! make sure to peel and scrape out the insides of your pumpkin, then you can cut it into cubes, about 1/4 – 1/2 inch.

in a sauté pan over medium heat add your olive oil and pumpkin plus salt and pepper to your liking and cook for about 15 minutes covered stirring occasionally. you are looking for your pumpkin to be fork tender.

when cooked to your liking, add in your rosemary then butter cooking until slightly brown and nutty. it’ll give off an aroma of toasted nuts, be careful not to burn it!

For the Cheese Sauce

in a sauce pan over med-low heat melt butter, when melted add flour, nutmeg, and your bay leaf. cook for about 5 minutes only slightly browning the mixture. for those of you that aren’t major foodie nerds like myself this process is called making a roux, which we are using to make a béchamel which is one of my most favorite sauces, yum!

 

when your roux is only a wee bit brown very slowly whisk in your quart of milk a cup at a time, letting it absorb the milk before each addition, bring your béchamel to a simmer and let thicken for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom browning. your sauce should be a thick soup consistency. give it a taste and add pepper as needed, you want to add your salt after the cheese gets mixed in because most cheeses are a tad salty.

take your sauce off the heat and let cool for about 5 minutes, if you mix the cheese in when your sauce is piping hot the cheese will become grainy and no one likes a grainy cheese sauce.

add in your cheeses 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly making sure for even melty goodness. once all of your cheese is in give it a taste and add salt as needed, you might not even have to add any at all. now you have a tasty cheese sauce ready for your pasta!

in your serving container of choice toss your 1 lb of cooked pasta with all of your yummy cheese sauce then top with your brown butter pumpkin and topping mix.