Project Recipe: Golden Delicious Apple and Cheddar Turnovers with Dried Cranberries

Sooooo, shortly after we started Bon Appétempt, we realized that there was something that already existed that was quite similar called Project Recipe. Maybe you've heard of it? Well if not, it's two bloggers, Chris and Bridget, working their way through Bon Appétit's top 100 dishes. And not only do they do the whole "their version/ our version" thing, but they're also annoyingly commissioned from the mother ship itself (Bon Appétit).

But then we took a closer look and realized that Project Recipe is kinda jenky. I mean, I know it's supposed to be done by amateurs (note: Matt and I are worse than amateurs!), but in the interest of my unusually extreme competitive nature, I thought we might just take a little comparative look together...

Bon Appétit's version:

Bridget's version:

Chris's version:

 our version:

I mean, they didn't even try to balance the two turnovers on top of one another while resting both atop a glass bowl with something creamy in it!

So, I hope you realize by now that I'm (sorta) joking. All of us are just trying to have fun while tackling gourmet recipes, right? Right.

...which brings us to the first step of the making of the turnovers--a mixture of walnuts, dried cranberries and maple syrup:

I wanted to do this recipe not just to have a Project Recipe face off, but also because it sounded like a hearty dessert we could serve up to our dinner guests after a relatively light soup and salad meal. Though, I had some misgivings when Matt was shredding the cheddar cheese and said, "So, this is gonna be the appetizer, right?"

But rest assured, despite the cheddar, this is definitely a dessert.

One that's wrapped up in puff pastry nonetheless.

 

Aerial shot of Matt and his trusted towel-over-the-shoulder cooking technique. (Seriously, this man will not be in the kitchen without one. Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Oh, and it should be mentioned that our baking sheets were recently ruined and we've yet to replace them so these guys baked on straight parchment paper. I don't know if this made much of a difference, but these turnovers were fairly average. Mine didn't seem to have enough filling, and I think the recipe could have used a little more maple syrup.

p.s. No hard feelings, Project Recipe. You know we're just a little jealous. :)

RECIPE via Bon Appétit

INGREDIERTS

2 medium Golden Delicious apples, peeled, halved, cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups (loosely packed) coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
Pinch of salt
1 17.3-ounce package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
1 large egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water to blend (for glaze)
Sugar

PREPARATION

Toss first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and chill.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 400°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to 11-inch square. Using 5- to 5 1/2-inch plate or bowl as template, cut out 4 rounds from pastry. Transfer pastry rounds to 1 baking sheet, spacing apart. Repeat with second pastry sheet, placing rounds on second baking sheet. Spoon filling onto half of each pastry round, dividing all of filling among rounds. Brush edges of pastry lightly with some of egg glaze. Fold plain pastry half over filling; press on edges to seal and enclose filling completely, then press tines of fork along pastry edge to create tight seal. Using tip of small sharp knife, cut two 1/2-inch-long slits in top of crust on each turnover. Brush tops with egg glaze, then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake turnovers until crusts are puffed and golden and juices are bubbling through slits in crusts, about 25 minutes. Carefully run metal spatula under turnovers to loosen and transfer to racks to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Gourmet's Potato and Kale Galette

Now that Halloween and our trip to North Carolina is over, we can get back to the business of making Potato and Kale Galettes. Galette means "whore's pasta," though I may be confusing that with pasta puttanesca.

Gourmet's version:

Our version:

I know. And this was our BEST picture.

But look, we had a lot going against us. The first misstep occurred at the market, when Matt picked up collard greens instead of kale.

I don't think this really made a difference. We just boiled them and then sauteed them with butter and garlic.

The second thing we didn't have going for us was our lack of a mandoline. (NOTE: If this blog post were an Amelia Bedelia book, this is where Amelia would pull out a little mandolin guitar.)

Slicing four potatoes 1/16th of an inch thick by hand is no joke. (Check out how afraid I am of slicing my fingers.)

This recipe was not afraid of its butter content. At this point, the pattern sort of became: butter, potatoes, kale, butter, potatoes, kale, butter, butter, butter, repeat.

Next, things got a little meta.

When it came time to flip the potato and kale collard greens galette, things just got sad--the bottom had totally stuck to the pan.

We scraped it off and reassembled and were able to salvage it a little. I mean, it was definitely going to be an aesthetic fail, but we still wanted to eat it (all that butter!). In the end, it looked weird (especially on the one side) but tasted great.

It's good to be back home and bon appetempting.

RECIPE via Best of GOURMET

yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings

active time: 45 min

total time: 1 hr

A crisp potato cake would be tempting enough—even without the surprise of garlicky kale sandwiched between its layers.

Ingredients
1 lb kale, tough stems and center ribs discarded
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, 6 of the tablespoons melted and cooled
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 lb russet (baking) potatoes (4 medium)

Special equipment: a 12-inch heavy nonstick skillet; an adjustable-blade slicer

Preparation

Cook kale in a 4- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, until just tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain well, squeezing handfuls of kale to extract excess moisture, then coarsely chop.

Heat 2 tablespoons (unmelted) butter in skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 1 minute. Add kale, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and sauté, stirring, until kale is tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and clean skillet.

Peel potatoes and thinly slice crosswise (1/16 inch thick) with slicer. Working quickly to prevent potatoes from discoloring, generously brush bottom of skillet with some of melted butter and cover with one third of potato slices, overlapping slightly. Dab potatoes with some of melted butter.

Spread half of kale over potatoes and sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

Cover with half of remaining potato slices and dab with butter, then top with remaining kale. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Top with remaining potatoes and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Brush a sheet of foil with melted butter, then brush galette with any remaining butter and place foil, buttered side down, on top. Place a 10-inch heavy skillet on top of foil to weight galette.

Cook galette over moderate heat until underside is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove top skillet and foil. Wearing oven mitts, carefully slide galette onto a baking sheet and invert skillet over it. Holding them together, invert galette, browned side up, back into skillet. Cook, uncovered, over moderate heat until underside is golden brown and potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Slide onto a serving plate.

Cooks' note: Galette can be made 6 hours ahead and cooled, uncovered, then kept, on a baking sheet covered with foil, at room temperature. Remove foil, then reheat in a 425°F oven until heated through and crisp, about 20 minutes.

happy halloween!!

their version:

our version:

For those of you who visited in hopes of a more food-based attempt, check back in a few days! For those of you who visited in hopes of this, WOW--what an odd, but awesome coincidence.