Dish | Stuffed Baked Apples + Autumn Pizzas

I am on a roll with all of this seasonal cooking lately! Ryan and I had a perfect day on Sunday: a trip to the hardware store, sandwiches at Hazel's Kitchen, redecorating our bathroom, and a final stop at the grocery store to pick up ingredients for a few Autumn inspired recipes I have been wanting to try.

BAKED APPLES STUFFED WITH NUTS, HONEY & GINGER

1/3 cup almonds, toasted, chopped
1/3 cup pecans, toasted, chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/4 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1 1/4 teaspoons ginger zest
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon chilled butter
4 large Fuji apples
1/4 cup apple juice
Vanilla Greek yogurt

1  |  Toast almonds and pecans over medium-high heat for 2-4 minutes; allow to cool before chopping. Combine nuts, brown sugar, honey, orange and ginger zest in small bowl. Mix in whipping cream. Let sit until sugar dissolves and filling thickens, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

2  |  Preheat oven to 350°F. Using small sharp knife and starting at side of apple at center point, cut around each apple to make slit in skin to prevent bursting. Using small end of melon baller, scoop out core and all seeds to within 1/2 inch of bottom. Place apples upright in 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Spoon filling into hollow of each apple. Mound remaining filling on top of each apple. Pour apple juice around apples. I added a tablespoon of fresh orange juice too. Butter large sheet of foil. Loosely tent dish with foil, buttered side down.

3  |  Bake apples until barely tender, about 1 hour. Uncover and bake until apples are very tender and sauce is bubbling thickly, about 20 minutes longer. Transfer apples and sauce to bowls. Serve with yogurt.

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Some of you might remember a post I did about pizzas back in May (please refer to that post for directions). Pizza is a fun thing to make at home because it allows you to use whatever ingredients you want to experiment with. For this particular round of Autumn inspired pizzas, I went with a Caramelized Onion, Wild Mushroom & Rosemary Pizza with White Wine Sauce and Mozzarella + a Roasted Butternut Squash & Sage Pizza with Fontina. Sorry I'm not doing a full post about these guys, I just felt like sharing.

Dish | Kebabs with Cilantro-Lime Marinade

We had a BBQ at the house the other night. It was a great bunch of friends, a whole lot of wine, and way too many kebabs! Those who came early got a taste of the sirloin kebabs which I unfortunately did not photograph. I also made my new favorite dish of the summer... Roasted Corn with Manchego & Lime. It's so ridiculously delicious and really complimented the marinade I used on the kebabs. It was an all around success considering we used a propane camping grill on the back deck of our 3rd story flat with little to no light and a good 10 people to feed.

CILANTRO-LIME MARINADE

2/3 cup lime juice, from about 6 limes
2/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
8 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons ginger
1 tablespoon dried red pepper flakes

1  |  Whisk all ingredients in a medium bowl.

KEBABS  |  Recipe inspired by Bon Appétit August 2005

2 pounds chicken, cut into  1 1/2-inch cubes
2 pounds sirloin steak, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
6 plum tomatoes, quartered
2 large peaches with skin, halved, pitted, quartered and cut into 8 sections
24 pearl onions, peeled
2 large red bell peppers, seeded, cut into squares
24 cremini (brown) mushrooms
2 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch rounds

1  |  Place chicken and steak in separate medium glass bowls. Add 3/4 cup marinade to each and toss until coated. Chill for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.You can use left over marinade for basting.

2  |  Alternate chicken cubes, tomato halves, peach wedges, and pearl onions on skewers. Alternate steak cubes, bell pepper squares, mushrooms, and zucchini rounds on skewers.

3  |  Prepare barbecue and set at medium-high heat. Grill kebabs until slightly charred and cooked as desired, turning occasionally and basting with remaining marinade, about 8 minutes for chicken and 10 minutes for steak. Transfer kebabs to platter.