We spent last weekend on the coast of Maine, invited by our good friends Chris and Bredt who you might remember from my review of Bondir Concord. There were eight of us in total, the husbands friends from high school, but we’ve all known each other a very long time, riding the highs and lows of life together. We ate well, talked incessantly, went for long walks on wooded trails and the beach, read, slept to the sounds of the ocean crashing against the shore and ate some more!
Saturday was misty, but on Sunday the sun was shining so I was able to snap some pictures of our views from the house…
and on one of our walks…
and of the hubs picking a few apples for a snack on our walk…
Bredt told me about a cookbook she wanted to share with me called EATS. The book is written by Bredt’s friend’s sister, Mary Rolph Lamontagne. Mary attended Middlebury College, but subsequently pursued a culinary education. She became an event planner in her hometown of Montreal and a food journalist for a French Canadian magazine. She moved to South Africa in 2005 where she worked as a food consultant for a hotel group and for various South African Bush camps. The idea for her cookbook was born out of working at a bush camp in neighboring Botswana. They were “low on stock and the leftovers were building up in the fridge. High paying guests were expecting a memorable meal and the rest is history…”
The book is very clever and having recently travelled to South Africa, I was so excited to see some recipes that reminded me of our trip. I can’t wait to try Lentil and Butternut Bobotie!
Organized by color, EATS gives you 27 master recipes with which you can make 108 alternate recipes.
For example, under the Greens chapter, Lamontagne makes master recipes for Asparagus, Broccoli, Spinach & Onion, Grated Zucchini and an Avocado Puree. She then repurposes the “seconds” into dishes such as Asparagus and Wild Mushroom bread pudding, Cheesy Broccoli cocktail bites, Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi, Curried Zucchini Soup and a B-A-L-T wrap, respectively.
Other chapters include the Purples (red cabbage, eggplant, blueberries and plums), the Reds (beetroot, red pepper, tomato, apple, strawberry and watermelon), the Yellows (butternut, carrot, corn, sweet potato, orange, peach and pineapple) and even the Whites (cauliflower, mushroom, banana and pear).
The more I read the recipes, the more excited I got about the book! Bredt let me take EATS home and I hope I remember to give it back to her, ha ha…
Given it’s Fall, the first recipe I decided to try was Applesauce spice muffins. Confession alert – I did not make the master recipe for applesauce, but rather substituted organic unsweetened applesauce in the recipe.
The muffin batter is all purpose flour (I used a combination of all purpose and whole wheat pastry flour), brown sugar, butter, eggs, spices, applesauce and diced apple. That would be tasty enough, but Lamontagne adds a crumble topping which makes them extra special. The topping is simple enough and I dare to say that you could double the topping recipe if you wanted to make these muffins even more decadent.
I don’t have a lot of “gadgets” in my kitchen. However, my friend Dale gave me these alternately sized measuring cups and measuring spoons as a gift. For the amount of cooking I do, I just LOVE them. I have a 1 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup and 2/3 cup measures and 2 Tablespoon, 1 1/2 Tablespoon and 2 teaspoon measures. They make me giddy and would make a really fun holiday or hostess gift! You can find them here. Thank you, Dale!
Here are the crumble topping ingredients…
They are worked with your hands until mixed well together…
I use an ice cream scoop for even batter distribution…
The first time I made these, they made a perfect dozen. The second time I made them, I only got 11! I was rushing to get them done before daylight waned so I could snap some pictures. The bad news – I forgot the applesauce in the batter. The good news – I realized this before they went into the oven…
Pink paper liners make everything more pretty…
Ready to go into the oven with that delicious crumble topping…
The finished muffins…
With a cup of coffee…
A shot of their moist interior…
My taste testers thought they were deelish (Amy and Kate, thank you!). They were just sweet enough and the crumble topping make them taste almost like a coffee cake. Perfect in the morning or my favorite time, mid afternoon with a cup of coffee.
Enjoy and please let me know what you think in the comments! If you do comment, I always respond but I think you have to come back to the post to check for it. I need to figure that out on my WordPress!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour (or 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup prepared applesauce
- 2/3 cup peeled and chopped apple (pieces should be about the size of a chocolate chip)
- Topping Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons rolled oats (not instant)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners (or you can grease them if you'd prefer).
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and brown sugar together until combined.
- Whisk the melted butter into the egg mixture, a little at a time, until creamy. Mix in the buttermilk, then stir in apple sauce and apple pieces.
- Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture, making sure not to over mix. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
- Mix the topping ingredients together, using your hands until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top of the batter. Bake until the muffins are puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.
- Cool in the muffin pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan.
Although I keep saying I don’t need another cookbook, I did buy EATS. It’s a beautiful cookbook to look at! So far, I have only tried the Leek and Mushroom Croquettes and they were a big hit in my house. Looking forward to slowly working my way through the book!
That’s so great! It is a beautiful cookbook – I am going to try the Croquettes!