Apple Turnover Time!

Last Christmas my aunt gave us a Bouchon Bakery cookbook, which has wonderful pictures of all the recipes.  Yesterday I was just flipping through it, looking at all of the pictures, when I saw the recipe for apple turnovers!  Now I have always been a big fan of anything made with apples; apple pie, apple ice cream, apple sauce, apple turnovers, you name it!  I have had apple turnovers many times before, but never home made, so since everything is always better if you make it at home, I decided to make apple turnovers!

I wanted to make them right away, so I bought my puff pastry at Ralph's, but if you have the time, make yours at home!

The first thing you will need is apples, eight apples to be precise.  I'm used Granny Smith apples because they are very tart and crispy, so the sugar doesn't make them too sweet, but you can use any other type of apple.

If you have an apple peeler, use it, it makes peeling and coring the apples so much easier!  But if you don't have one you can always do it by hand.

Cut the peeled and cored apples into quarters and put them into a bowl with water and lemon juice so they don't get brown.

While the apples are soaking, add 1/2 cup sugar to a large pot with a lid,

Along with 1 tablespoon warm water,

And stir them together until the sugar is completely moistened.

Turn on the pot and let the sugar mixture melt.

Drain the apples and add them to the pot with some lemon juice.

Put on the lid and let the apples cook down.

After about 5 minutes, once the apples have cooked down a bit, it's time to add the spices!

I'm using mace, ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of mace,

1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves,

1 teaspoon of nutmeg,

1/2 teaspoon of allspice,

And 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.

Once you've mixed in all of the spices and your apple mixture is a dark golden brown, put the lid back on and let it cook down for about 5 for minutes, then turn off the stove, take off the lid, and let it cool.

While your apples are cooling, it's time to tackle the puff pastry!  (Don't forget to preheat your oven to 350 F)

Unwrap the box, take one of the sheets out, and put it on a well floured surface.  You don't want anything sticking!

Cut your sheet into 4 identical squares.

Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put a scoop of the cooled apple filling in the middle.

Brush the edges with egg wash (1 egg yolk & 1/4 milk.)  This helps the pastry seal at the edges.

Fold over the pastry, making sure it is completely sealed at the edges.  You don't want any of your filling coming out!

Repeat this process with the second sheet of puff pastry.  Once all of your turnovers are assembled, put them in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until they are very crispy have doubled in size.

When the turnovers are cooked, take them out of the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack.  Let them cool for 10-20 minutes.

I'm so glad I decided to make apple turnovers, they're just so good!  They probably would've been even better if I had taken the time to make my own puff pastry, but that takes several hours, and who wants to wait that long?  I hope you enjoy your apple turnovers!

French Onion Soup (requested by Don Collins)

Ever since my friend Don Collins tasted my Mom's french onion soup at our New Year's party, he has been begging us for the recipe, so today is his lucky day!  Usually I make this soup with leftover beef or lamb, so you should make this soup the night after you have a roast.  But, sometimes roasts are left unroasted, and meat must be cooked especially for the soup!  If this is your case, it's fine, it just means that you have to go to extra trouble to cook the beef or lamb instead of just using leftovers.  Now remember, you can always make the soup vegetarian by leaving out the beef!

Start with however much meat you want in your soup.  It could be a little meat, it could be a lot of meat, it depends on your preference.  I personally don't like to much meat in my soup, so I'm using 2 pieces of meat.  I chose beef for my meat, but my pieces are to big to cook, so I'm going to cut them in half cross-wise.

Preheat a pan coated in olive oil.

Once you've cut your meat into small slices, place it in the oil with tongs or your hands.

The oil spatters everywhere, so for the sake of a clean kitchen and no burns you may want to cover the pan with a splatter screen.  You can get a set of three at Bed Bath & Beyond: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/splatter-screen-set-of-3/1012910649

Once the meat is cooked on the bottom side, flip it with tongs . . .

And replace the splatter screen.

When the meat is fully cooked on both sides, remove it from the pan with tongs, chop it into bite sized pieces, and pulse it in a Cuisinart Food Processor into fine pieces and put it in another container for later.

I used 2 bags of Mayan Sweets for my onions.  You can use a different type of onion, buy I find that these are best because, as their names implies, they are much sweeter than other types of onions.

Peel all of your onions and put them in a large bowl.

Preheat about a 1/4 cup of oil in a large pot.  You need lots of oil to caramelize onions!

Cut your onions into quarters one at a time . . .

And slice them in a Cuisinart Food Processor with the thinest slicing attachment.

Once all your onions are sliced, add them to the heated oil.

Make sure to stir the onions consistently so that they don't burn.  Just don't stir them too much, you want them to caramelize!

When the onions are fully caramelized, add about 1/2 of molasses.  Blackstrap is ideal, but you can use regular instead if you have to.

Since alcohol cooks off, add 1 cup of white wine for flavor.

Obviously you wouldn't just want to eat a bowl full of onions, so add 2 containers of beef broth for liquid and flavor.

Remember the meat you cooked and chopped earlier?  It's time to add it!

Add 5-7 bays leaves, depending on their size.  Once the soup is dished up, take them out.  They're not edible, you just want their flavor in the soup!

Add about 2 tablespoons of thyme.  I didn't have any, so it's fine if you don't, just use oregano instead!

Once the soup is fully cooked, it's ready!  I like mine with a little grated cheese, croutons, and homemade sourdough bread.  Check out my post, Saturday Cooking Fun, for a quick sourdough recipe!

This soup serves a dinner of 4, plus 9 of these CorningWare Mugs.  These mugs are a great way to keep individual serving of soup in the fridge, and you can microwave them, which makes leftovers super easy!  I got mine on Amazon: CorningWare Mug

I love having this soup on a rainy weekend, it's kind of a comfort food for me.  So whether you're sick, it's raining, or you just woke up on the wrong side of bed, make some of this soup!  I promise it will cheer you up!