Lisa and I live together my freshman year of college with another fabulous girl in a room the size of a prison cell. Okay, I’m exaggerating…a prison cell is bigger. And miraculously after a year in such deplorable conditions, we all survived, and we still actually like each other.
After living with someone for a year, you get to know their likes and dislikes. Such as, due to Lisa’s medical intolerance to caffeine, she cannot have chocolate or coffee. I live on these two things.
In addition, I will never cook her Italian food, since as a millionth-generation Italian who says things like gravy instead of sauce, I simply know better.
So instead I decided to make a healthy/gourmet version of some American classics that tend to get a bad rap.
Chicken Fingers, Fries, and Apple Pies. (Try saying it in a rhyming fashion, its fun!)
Now, these are not your regular chicken fingers and fries. No grease, little overall “fat” and lots of flavor. For this Dinner party for two, all you need is an oven and a baking sheet. (and the food.)
All of these recipes are plays off of other recipes I have tried before. For the chicken fingers, I borrowed the sauce from my very popular fish tacos, and for the mini apple pies I simply modified my peach tart recipe. I have made the parmesan fries so many times and these really go with just about anything.
While I have already posted a similar recipe for “Peach Tarts,” these “mini-apple pies” or Improvised Apple Tarts, were even better, and easier.
Desperately trying to finish up my supply of Honeycrisp Apples, these tarts or mini-apple pies were the perfect touch to my American Classics with a Twist night. I made these smaller than my peach tarts, so really, it is a new recipe. I made several ingredient changes according to what I had such as forgetting to buy a lemon, I used a lime, and honestly I couldn’t tell the difference.
I think that the smaller tarts are the perfect amount since they are pretty rich, especially when served with ice cream.
Mini Apple Pies: 8 Mini Tarts
Ingredients:
Crust:
Two premade Pillsbury Piecrusts, thawed
1 egg beaten
Extra White Sugar and Cinnamon mixed
Filling:
4 Honeycrisp apples, thinly sliced (Other tart varieties such as Granny Smith would also work.)
¾ cup white sugar
¼ cup All-purpose Flour (or 1/8 cup Corn Starch)
Juice of half a Lemon (or Lime)
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Peel, cut and slice 4 apples into thin slices.
Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a medium-large bowl.
Add apple slices and mix all ingredients until apples are covered and all of the sugar mix is wet. Set aside.
Roll out piecrusts and cut each crust into four slices, making 8 triangles.
Evenly place cut crust triangles on a lined baking sheet. (You can use aluminum foil.)
Evenly spoon the apple mixture onto the middle of the crust triangles leaving plenty of room on the sides.
Fold and pinch the crust sides into the middle creating a circle around the filling.
Use the egg mixture and brush (or use a paper towel like me) the sides of the tarts. Make sure you use a good amount, but not too much.
Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on the wet sides and tops of the tarts.
Bake the tarts in the oven for 20 minutes or until the tarts are golden brown and slightly bubbly.
Serve with Vanilla Ice cream and sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top.
Variation:
Serve for breakfast instead of dessert. (Just skip the ice cream)
Enjoy!
Love,
The College Cuisiner
Want to try the recipes for either my “gourmet” chicken fingers or parmesan fries? Let me know!
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