Apple - quick and easy recipes - page 22

This light, refreshing punch starts with a mix of apple cider, vodka, orange liqueur, apples, and lemons, which is then topped with sparkling apple juice and sparkling wine. Serve this not-too-boozy-tasting punch at a Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s party.

This boozy but balanced St. Patrick’s Day punch combines Guinness, cider, and whiskey. First, freeze nonalcoholic and hard apple cider into an ice block. When you’re ready to get your drink on, pour the beer and more hard cider into a punch bowl and add the ice block. Pour the whiskey over top of the frozen cider, and as the cider block thaws it’ll give the punch the sweet-tart flavor of a Black Velvet cocktail with a whiskey back.

Rosa Mexicano’s perfectly balanced La Pinela cocktail is made with pineapple juice, cinnamon syrup, lime juice, and tequila. What to buy: Licor 43 Cuarenta y Tres is a Spanish liqueur with great spiced notes and a vanilla flavor that’s often served on the rocks. It can be found at high-end liquor stores and online.

You don’t need to pull out the ice cream maker for this elegant cold dessert. Just blend frozen pineapple with rum, lime juice, simple syrup, and ice, then freeze the mixture until solid and scoopable. This tart, tropical sorbet hits the mark as both an after-dinner cocktail and a dessert.

If you’re hankering for a great steak but don’t have access to a grill, try this soy-sauce-marinated rib-eye recipe from Le Pigeon (nicknamed the Dirty Bird) in Portland, Oregon. Throw the steaks in a smoking-hot cast-iron skillet, sear on one side, flip them over, and top with butter. Finish the steaks in the oven, then serve with a seemingly odd but tasty Hawaiian-inspired relish made with pineapple and blue cheese. A pile of crispy semolina-coated onion rings makes the perfect side.

This recipe is a great way to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey when you just can’t eat another turkey-and-gravy sandwich. Mix diced turkey with tart apples, sweet grapes, creamy mayo, and crunchy walnuts and celery. Serve for lunch atop leaves of butter lettuce, or stuff it into delicate French pastry shells as an elegant appetizer.

In this mulled cider recipe, apple cider is simmered with orange, honey, cloves, and cinnamon, then given a mild boozy kick from amontillado sherry added just before serving. Keep this sweet-smelling punch warm in a slow cooker at a holiday party or winter cocktail party, or let it simmer while you throw together our classic Pumpkin Pie recipe. What to buy: Amontillado sherry, made in the town of Jerez in southwestern Spain, is aged longer than fino (or dry) sherries.

Sweet pickle relish on a hot dog? Not for me: I want heat! Essentially a salsa, this relish works on a whole range of casual foods besides franks—nachos, burgers, tacos, you name it. Since this recipe makes a lot, you’ll be able to extend your condiment adventure into next season, slightly perspiring all through the cold months.

This bacon compote is versatile. Spoon some onto pizza along with jalapeños and red onions or try it as a meaty nacho topping, even toast a bagel and top with cream cheese and bacon compote—it’s fantastic.

Trick Dog is a bar in the Mission District of San Francisco that’s known for its expertly crafted cocktails. The Lombard Street cocktail was named after one of the city’s most famous, and windiest, landmarks. The smokiness of the mezcal, paired with the sweet and sour flavors of the pineapple syrup, sherry, and lime juice, makes this a well-balanced drink that’ll give you a much-needed taste of the tropics on a chilly evening.

Fish offers a wide canvas for tacos: grilled, battered and fried, ceviche-cured. Here, boneless fillets are seasoned, floured, and pan-fried so they’re crisp at the edges, moist and tender inside. A simple fresh pineapple salsa spiked with lime and jalapeños gives the tacos brightness and a little bite. What to buy: Tilapia is a fish that’s affordable and readily available, but check to make sure the fillets you buy are from a source that practices sustainable aquaculture.

In this update on a Colonial favorite, rum meets the old-fashioned fruit-and-vinegar infusion known as a shrub. There’s no added sugar in this cocktail—we like its tangy edge, but if you prefer something a little sweeter, you can add 1 teaspoon of simple syrup to the cocktail shaker. What to buy: A richly flavored dark rum works best here. Try Cruzan Estate Dark or Barbancourt 3 Star.

Shrubs, a.k.a. drinking vinegars, were popular in Colonial America. At their most basic, shrubs are infusions of fruit in vinegar, sweetened to soften the tart edges. This one combines two quintessentially autumnal fruits—apples and cranberries—in a shrub that can be used as the base for various celebratory drinks. Game plan: Use this to make a refreshing, nonalcoholic Cranberry Shrub Spritz. For something stiffer, try a Rum-Cranberry Shrub Cocktail.

Chicken breasts easily turn dry unless you use fattening things like cream or cheese as accessories for flavor and texture. That became the jumping-off point for this recipe: how to get juicy, mouth-watering chicken breasts while keeping things healthy. Poblano peppers turned out to be the answer: They’re mild, but infuse everything they touch with a rich green-chile flavor.

A hot toddy is the perfect comfort drink for cool nights. In this honey-sweetened rum and cider version, a touch of Fernet-Branca—herbal and bracing—keeps things interesting. What to buy: A richly flavored dark rum, such as Cruzan Estate Dark or Barbancourt 3 Star, works best.