As the summer begins to wind down and the days become shorter, farmers and orchardists are anxiously awaiting the beginning of apple picking season.

Whether it’s in the form of a pan pie, hand pie or turnover, there’s nothing like that first bite of a warm flaky crust, buttery apples, melted sugar and spicy cinnamon.

First Sight, Chapter 18 “….What are you making?” Tori asked, looking into a large mixing bowl beside Ben where he was adding the sliced apples.

“I thought I would try my hand at making apple turnovers today,” he replied, carefully measuring sugar into the bowl.  “Coffee is fresh if you want a cup.”

Tori smiled as she watched him add the remaining ingredients and begin mixing them together.  “You’re going to make someone a good little wife one day,” she joked….”

 Ben’s Apple Turnovers:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 4 cups water
• 4 Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored & sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 package pastry sheets, thawed
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 fresh vanilla bean
• 1 egg yolk, beaten

Directions:

1)  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2)  Combine the lemon juice with the 4 cups of water in a large bowl and add the sliced apples.  (This will keep the apples from browning.)

3)  Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.   Remove the apples from the water and add them to the melted butter, cooking them for about 2 minutes.   Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and cook the mixture another 2 minutes.

4)  In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water together, then add the mixture to the seasoned apples.  Stir and cook the mixture for another minute, until sauce has thickened. Remove the pan from the heat to cool slightly.

5)   Unfold the pastry sheets, and roll them out slightly into large squares.  Repair any cracks by pressing them back together.  Cut each larger square into 4 smaller squares.

6)   Spoon approximately 2 tablespoons of the apple mixture onto the center of each square and fold the square over from corner to corner, creating a triangle shape.  Press the edges of the triangle together to seal in the filling.

7)  Place the turnovers on a baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between them and brush them with the egg yolk (this will give the turnovers a ‘shiny’ crusted look when baked).

8)  Place the prepared baking sheet in the oven and bake the turnovers for 25-30 minutes, until the turnovers are puffed and lightly browned.

9)   Transfer the turnovers to a rack and cool completely.

10) Cut the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the center of each half with the flat side of a knife.  Mix the fresh vanilla with the confectioners’ sugar and milk in a small bowl.  Adjust the thickness by adding more sugar or milk if necessary.  Drizzle the glaze over the cooled turnovers.

Sunday afternoon is my time to open a bottle of wine, load up the counter with an assortment of delectable ingredients and spend several hours in the kitchen. It’s total therapy for me and my family benefits, come dinner time.

Risotto is one of those dishes that takes a fair amount of time and attention however when it’s prepared well, it’s so worth it!

First Sight, Chapter 17 “…Anyway, tell me more about dinner with the Coopers. What did Mom make?”

“Considering what your hospital dinner may have been like, maybe you don’t want to know,” Ben replied, warily.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you! Agent Nichols came by earlier and brought me dinner. She picked up a couple of salads and we had some girl time. So you can tell me what you had and I’ll try not to be jealous. As long as it wasn’t Mom’s cedar plank grilled salmon and wild mushroom risotto.”

Ben winced and said, “Well…..”

Sarah’s Wild Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 pound fresh shiitake and cremini mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
• 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

1)   In a large sauté pan, sauté the chopped garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until slightly caramelized.

2)  Add the assorted fresh mushrooms to the pan and season with the salt.  Sauté the mushrooms until they are soft and then transfer the mixture to a bowl.

3)  Meanwhile, remove the porcini mushrooms from the soaking liquid and coarsely chop them.  Set the mushrooms aside for use later.  Skim off the top 2/3 of the soaking liquid to use later and discard the lower 1/3 which will have a lot of the dirt from dried mushrooms.

4) Add more olive oil to the sauté pan and cook the onions over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until slightly caramelized.  Season the onions with salt and pepper.

5) Add the rice to the pan and stir until coated with the oil.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly toasted.

6)  Add the wine to the pan, stirring frequently until it has absorbed into the rice.

7) Add the reserved mushroom liquid and the chicken stock in one cup increments, stirring frequently, until the liquid has fully absorbed into the rice. Repeat this process until all but one cup of the stock and reserved soaking liquid have been used.

8)    During the final addition of the liquid, add the reserved mushrooms.  When the stock has absorbed into the rice and the rice is cooked but still “al dente”, remove the pan from the heat.

9)    Add the butter and cheese and stir until well combined. Serve immediately.

Many of my readers have commented about the frequent food references I wrote about in ‘First Sight’, and have asked me for the recipes.

What a great idea!

So for my fellow foodies, here’s the first recipe, one of my absolute favorites that I make all the time.

First Sight, Chapter 17  “…As Ben rounded the back of the house, he smelled the combination of wood and charcoal and saw Sarah standing in front of a grill, carefully placing salmon filets on cedar planks over the burning embers…”

Sarah’s Cedar Planked Grilled Salmon

Ingredients:

• Fresh salmon filet with skin
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Cedar plank, immersed in water for 1 hour

Directions:

1) Fire up the grill.  I prefer a charcoal grill, while my husband prefers the gas grill.  Either option works well for this recipe.  For the charcoal grill, place the grate to medium height above the coals.  For the gas grill, heat the grill to 400 degrees.

2) Remove the cedar plank from the water and place it on a transfer tray (i.e. whatever you’ll be using to carry your planked salmon filet to the grill).

3) Lay the salmon filet skin side down on top of the cedar plank, drizzle with the olive oil and season the salmon with the kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

4) Place the planked salmon on the grill and cook for about 15 minutes or until the edges of the plank are glowing and the salmon ‘sizzles’ on the board.  Take care not to let the board catch on fire so have a squirt bottle or bottle of water nearby to tame the flames.

5) To serve, cut the salmon into serving sizes directly on the board.  Enjoy!