Apple Walnut Kefir Muffins (Gluten Free)

Domestic Divas is back!

I know you've all been waiting for the return. The hiatus was refreshing and relaxing and much needed... but I missed posting here and sharing my recipes. So I'm easing back into cooking and photographing and writing recipes.

I've been busy on other projects. I'm elbow-deep into editing my latest novel (the series is being pitched as a TV show—fingers crossed!). I'm also writing a film treatment based on a short story I wrote that's gotten some Hollywood interest. But I figure it's good to mix-up my fiction with some old-fashioned food writing.

What's a better place to start than breakfast?

I made these muffins yesterday morning. I just felt like baking. You ever get that feeling? They're made with my gluten-free kefir muffin base (which also makes GREAT cornbread, by the way). In these muffins, I used Arrowhead Mills Organic Blue Corn Meal (you may notice the color is a bit blueish), but regular yellow tastes excellent, too. The organic kefir gives them a tangy flavor and keeps them extra moist. The kicker are the chopped apples, walnuts, and cinnamon. I used Granny Smith apples. I love their tangy flavor. It seems match the kefir.

These muffins just taste like fall. Like leaves falling. And fresh, cool breezes. And thankfully, it's been cooler here in LA (though I hear it may be 90 degrees again later this week).

For a little extra decadence, I sprinkled the top of the muffins with a little raw turbinado sugar (this is optional, but oh so yummy).

So enjoy! And I hope you'll join me back here as I get back into posting new recipes. I'm brewing a root vegetable and chicken slow cooker stew as we speak!

Apple Walnut Kefir Muffins (Gluten Free)

Makes about 8 muffins

Baking time 20-25 minutes

Vegetarian; gluten free

Ingredients

1 cup gluten free cornmeal
1 cup gluten free all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1 cup unsweetened kefir
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or regular milk
1/4 cup olive oil or coconut oil (melted)
1 apple, cored and diced
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
raw turbinado or brown sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl (cornmeal, flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder). In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Then mix in the maple syrup, kefir, milk, and oil with the egg. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until combined, but be careful not to over beat the mix. Fold in the apples and walnuts.

3. Grease a muffin tin. Pour the mix into the muffin slots. If desired, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a little sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve with butter. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Cranberry Apple Crisp

Thanksgiving just isn't complete without dessert.

Go ahead, disagree with me. I dare you.

Over the weekend, a few of my close friends hosted a mock T-Day dinner. It was like a dress rehearsal for the big day (that I can't believe is right around the corner!). Turkey was baked. Mashed potatoes were... well, mashed (and made with Tofu Sour Cream, accidentally purchased by one of the guys on a frenzied last minute Whole Foods run—and it tasted great).

Stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, and sweet potatoes found their way onto the table, and from there, onto our T-Day themed plates. It was a literal smorgasbord.

It was quite the feast, held before we all abscond for various hometowns across the country. I'm off to Des Moines on Sunday. My hubby has been in NYC, and will meet me there, as will my parents. Meanwhile, the Adorable Monster is off to Mutt Maniacs, from where he will emerge a week later, happy, smelly, and gloriously tired.

Finally, as the meal ended, dessert was placed on the table. It had been my responsibility, and I'd decided against making pie (I'll save that stressful experience for next week, when my mother will be at my side).

Instead, I decided to concoct a seasonal Cranberry Apple Crisp.

I settled on it for three reasons. 1) Everybody loves a great fruit crisp, 2) I didn't have to make pie crust, and 3) there was a great Barefoot Contessa recipe that I could adapt (and had been wanting to try out).

Instead of her use of peaches and raspberries (which would taste great, no doubt), I chose to use cranberries and apples, both very much in season and populating the shelves at all the grocery stores across the country. Granny Smith apples are my go to for pie—their texture and tartness hold up great.

The resulting crisp was delicious—tart, sweet, rich and buttery, and yes, crispy.

This is the perfect holiday dessert. It's stress-free and fool-proof, too. I promise.

I should also mention here that the original The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook is one of my favorite in the whole wide world, and one of the only ones I still consult on a regular basis with the advent of the iPad and the internet. Alright, there's my shameless plug!

Cranberry Apple Crisp
Adapted from 'The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook'
Serves 10 people
Baking time: about one hour
Vegetarian (and easy to veganize)
Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 to 5 pounds apples (about 10 to 12 apples), peeled, cored, and sliced
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
• 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter the inside of a 10 x 15 x 2 1/2 inch baking dish.
3. In a large bowl, combine the sliced apples, the cranberries, the lemon zest, the lemon juice, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and about 2 tablespoons flour. Toss well. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. If there is a lot of liquid, add 1 more tablespoon of flour.
4. Pour the apple cranberry mixture into the baking dish and gently smooth the top.
5. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, oatmeal, and the cold, diced butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is pea sized and the mixture is crumbly. 
6. Sprinkle evenly on top of the apples and cranberries. 
7. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. 
8. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator and reheat in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until warm.

Source for Ingredients

• organic Granny Smith apples, frozen cranberries, organic lemons, and organic light brown sugar from Whole Foods
• organic granulated sugar, quick-cooking oatmeal, and organic butter from Trader Joe's

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with Apple-Bourbon Coulis

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with Apple-Bourbon Coulis

Divas, I'm still rocking out my Sous Vide Supreme, a sous vide machine for the home cook. It makes the best pork tenderloin on the planet Earth!

So last Sunday, the A-Girl, my frequent dining companion, came over for nosh and movie night. When she walked in the door, The Adorable Monster nearly lost his fur brain, crying and jumping for joy. He loves the A-Girl, and I think that the feeling is mutual.

Sous Vide Pork Chops with Apple-Ginger Relish

There's nothing better than hitting up the farmers market and returning home with an armload of great product.

This week, I was lucky enough to procure milk-fed heritage pork chops from Healthy Family Farms, my local CSA. Their pork is so delicate and flavorful that doing anything other than cooking it sous vide felt like a crime. Enter my trusty Sous Vide Supreme and Vacuum Sealer (this is the must have holiday gift for any serious cook). Previously a technique limited to high end restaurants due to the exponential cost of immersion circulators and gastrovacs (though some brave home cooks have jerry-rigged their own devices), with the advent of the Sous Vide Supreme, home cooks can now rejoice and sous vide to their heart's delight.

Vacuum-Sealed Pork Chop with Bacon Fat

To cook the pork, I first cut out the bones to make them boneless pork chops (the bones are in my freezer, soon to be used to make stock). Then, I set my Sous Vide Supreme to 140 degrees. Meanwhile, I rubbed the meat with garlic powder, dried sage, dried thyme, salt and pepper. The final ingredient? A little rendered bacon fat that I'd squirreled away from Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon from the first installment of Zingerman's Bacon of the Month Club.

Given the beautiful apples that are in season right now, I decided to make an Apple-Ginger Relish to serve with the pork chops. The dish turned out fabulous -- it tasted like the epitome of the season -- hearty, succulent, tangy, sweet. I served my Sous Vide Pork Chops with Apple-Ginger Relish over fresh shell beans (simmered in water with a bay leaf and olive oil) tossed with a little sauteed baby kale, however just about any whole grain or bean concoction would work great with this dish.

I loved this dish so much, I can't wait to make it again!

Sous Vide Pork Chops with Apple-Ginger Relish
Serves 2 people
Prep time: 15 minutes; Sous Vide Cooking Time: 2.5 hours
Print Recipe  

Ingredients
2 boneless pork chops (1 inch thick)
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons rendered bacon fat, cooled in the refrigerator until solid (this will allow you to vacuum seal the bags -- liquid is sucked out)
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (for searing)

apple-ginger relish
1 Granny Smith apple, diced (I leave the skin on, but you can remove it)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper

Directions
Fill the Sous Vide Supreme with water and preheat to 140 degrees.

Meanwhile, rub the pork chops with the sage, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Place each pork chop into a separate plastic bag with 1 teaspoon of the bacon fat. Vacuum seal both bags.

Once the Sous Vide Supreme has reached 140 degrees (hint -- filling it up with hot water will help it heat up faster), place the pork chop bags into the water bath making sure that the meat is submerged and that the bags are not touching each other. Cook in the Sous Vide Supreme for two and a half hours (for one inch thick -- longer cooking time is needed for thicker cuts of meat -- see the temperature chart that comes with the Sous Vide Supreme).

Pork Chops Fresh Out of Sous Vide Supreme

When two and a half hours have passed, remove the pork chop bags from the Sous Vide Supreme and cut open them open to remove the pork chops. In a saute pan, heat the grapeseed oil over medium-high heat. Quickly, sear the pork chops on both sides until nicely caramelized (about 1 minute per side). Remove from the pan and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile, make the apple-ginger relish in the same pan where you seared the pork chops. Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of fat. Heat the pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 1 minute. Add the apples and saute until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the apple cider vinegar and cook for 1 more minute. Then, add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, deglazing the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer for a few minutes, or until reduced in half.

Sous Vide Pork Chops with Apple-Ginger Relish

To plate, slice the pork chops and lay out on a plate. Spoon the apple-ginger relish on top of the slices. Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients
milk-fed pork chops (Healthy Family Farms), organic garlic, and ginger from the Hollywood Farmers Market

organic Granny Smith apples from West Hollywood Farmers Market

organic apple cider vinegar, organic chicken broth, and grapeseed oil from Trader Joe's

organic dried sage, organic dried thyme, and organic garlic powder from Whole Foods

rendered bacon fat from Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon (received as part of Zingerman's Bacon of the Month Club)