Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze

A recipe from my grandma. This serves 6 to 8.


Ingredients


⅛ cup Cinnamon, Ground -- Take an additional teaspoon measurement and put aside.
2 ⅛ cup Sugar
4 lg Apples -- Chopped Small
3 lg Egg
1 cup Oil, Canola
2 cup Flour, White, Unbleached -- All-purpose flour preferable
½ tsp Baking Soda
2 tbsp Butter
½ cup Sugar, Brown -- Light, firmly packed
2 tbsp Milk


Instructions


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 1/4 cup of cinnamon-sugar mixture. Grease a bundt or tube pan and coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.


Mix apples, eggs, and oil with an electric mixer. Add flour, sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon, mixing well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow cake to rest in pan for at least 10 minutes before inverting it onto a cake plate.


To prepare glaze, combine butter, brown sugar and milk in a medium saucepan. Bring slowly to a boil, mixing several times, and cook for one minute. Spoon over cake. Allow to cool before serving.


Kitchen Tip:


Serve with a spoonful of whipped cream or scoop of vanilla ice cream. Nut lovers can add 1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans to the cake batter.


Wine Suggestion:


A nice white wine would go well, as well as a light zinfandel. Try not to go for something too sweet though, as you don't want to overpower the palette of your guests with everything being sweet. A light, even slightly dry wine might be suitable, depending on your preference.

Sweet Curry Chicken

For today's post to christen the blog, I chose a recipe I got recently. Of course, it has already been tweaked some by me, but it remains intact with the main recipe. I kosher the chicken, and I prefer to serve it over basmati rice. That's about it! Enjoy :).

Ingredients


2 lbs Chicken, Breast, Skinless -- Soak for 30 minutes in Kosher salt water. Rinse well.
8 oz Honey
8 oz Mustard, Yellow -- Use the Spicy Mustard. Dijon preferred
3 tsp Curry Powder
3 tbsp Butter, Unsalted
2 cup Celery -- Rinse and chop.
2 cup Onions -- Chop
2 box Mushrooms, Crimini -- Chop


Instructions


After rinsing the chicken well, place in cooking dish that is oven safe. Season the chicken lightly -- a poultry seasoning is fine. Cook the chicken for one and a half hours or until fully cooked, at 325 degrees. Remove and let cool a minute.


When the chicken is almost done, about an hour in, prepare the onions, celery, and mushrooms. Sauté them until onions are translucent. Remove from heat.


Chop chicken into bite size pieces and put into a bowl. While doing this, warm a skillet over medium heat.


Combine the butter, honey, mustard, and curry powder. Mix well until there are no groupings of each individual ingredient.


Add the chicken and coat well with the sauce. Then add the celery, onion, and mushroom mixture. Serve immediately.