Recipes

Southern Fried Apples

  • ½ cup butter
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 4 apples : peeled, cored, and sliced
  1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; stir sugar and cinnamon into the hot butter. Add apples and cook until apples begin to break down, 5 to 8 minutes. 

Apple and Pear Leather

  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 4 cups apples peeled, cored, chopped
  • 4 cups pears peeled, cored, chopped
  1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees F (65 degrees C). Cover a baking sheet with a layer of plastic wrap or parchment paper.
  2. In the container of a blender, combine the sugar, lemon juice, apple and pear. Cover and puree until smooth. Spread evenly on the prepared pan. Place the pan on the top rack of the oven.
  3. Bake for 5 to 6 hours, leaving the door to the oven partway open. Fruit is dry when the surface is no longer tacky and you can tear it like leather. Roll up on the plastic wrap and store in an airtight jar.

Pear Crisp

  • 6 cups sliced pear
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Topping

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup softened butter
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
  2. Spread pears to cover bottom of the baking dish; drizzle with melted butter and maple syrup.
  3. Stir flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Cut softened butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, adding more flour if necessary. Sprinkle topping over pears.
  4. Bake in preheated oven until pears are bubbling and topping is crisp, about 30 minutes.

Plum Clafouti

  • 6 tablespoons white sugar, divided
  • 14 plums, halved and pitted
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups milk
  • 2/3 cup all- purpose flour 
  • 1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla 
  • 1 pinch salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 
  • 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter a 10 inch pie plate, and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over the bottom.
  2. Arrange the plum halves, cut side down, so that they cover the entire bottom of the pie plate. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar over the top of the plums. In a blender, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar, eggs, milk, flour, lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Process until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour over the fruit in the pan.
  3. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Cherry Hand Pies

Dough:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt 
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening 
  • Vegetable oil, for frying 
  • Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Filling:

  • 3 cups pitted cherries, roughly chopped (1 to 1 1/2 pounds whole cherries) 
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar 
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
  • Pinch of salt 
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch 
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  1. Make the dough: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Drizzle in 6 tablespoons ice water and pulse until the dough starts coming together. 
  2. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and lightly knead to bring together. Form into a disk, wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. 
  3. Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine the cherries, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the cherries are juicy and the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, 5 more minutes. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the juice into a small bowl; stir in the cornstarch until dissolved. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and continue to simmer, stirring, until very thick, 6 to 8 more minutes. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the lemon juice and let cool. 
  4. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a ball. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each ball into a 6 1/2-inch round, using as little flour as possible. Stack the rounds between pieces of parchment paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. 
  5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand 5 minutes. Place 2 tablespoons cherry filling in the center of each round, then fold in half to enclose and crimp the edges to seal. 
  6. Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a deep skillet until a deep-fry thermometer registers 360 degrees F. Fry the pies in 2 batches, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.