Thanks to Bonnie Palmer for submitting this great recipe for her favorite apple crumb pie.  Check out our recipes post to learn how to submit your own!

 Ingredients:

• Deep pie crust
• 1 C sugar
• 4 Tbsp. (or to taste) cinnamon
• ¾ C flour
• 1 stick butter 

For each pie:

One bag of granny smith apples – slice thin and fill pie so apples are piled very high (these will bake down)

Mix the cinnamon and ½ c. of the sugar together and pour evenly over the top of the apples.

Topping (per pie):

Mix the flour, the butter, and the remaining ½ c. of sugar with a pastry mixer or fork and spread and pat evenly over pie 

Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil in case pies overflow.

Cook for 40 minutes at 400 degrees.

Bonnie Palmer is a creative developer for Fluency Media, and a lifelong Michigander.  She currently lives in White Lake with her 4 dogs: Murphy, Myles, Cooper (pictured), Elley.  You can leave a comment below for Bonnie, and let her know what you thought of her pie.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, here’s a great stuffing recipe from historic Cherry Creek Winery’s own Chef Marian.  For more info on recipes and wine pairings, check out Cherry Creek Winery’s website.

We’d love to hear your favorite recipes – to learn how to submit your own recipe to us, check out our Pure Michigan Recipes post.

Will stuff 18 Chicken breasts or one Turkey breast

• 3 cups of multigrain breadcrumbs (not large or fine chunks)
• 1 cup dried cranberries that have been soaked in one cup of Cherry Creek Cellars Cranberry Passion for several hours
• 1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped & sauteed until soft
• 2  8 ozs packages Neufchatel cheese, softened
• 1 tsp thyme
• ½ cup finely chopped almonds
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

1) Drain cranberries, reserving the liquid. Coarsely chop the cranberries.
2) Mix chopped cranberries with the Neufchatel, cranberries, onion, pepper, & thyme. Mix in the breadcrumbs.
3) Sprinkle the reserved Cranberry Passion over the bread mix, folding to blend.
4) Stuff poultry & bake according to directions. Chicken breasts can be wrapped in two sheets of phyllo that have been lightly brushed with olive oil, bake at 375° for 30 minutes.

We want to know what you think – share your opinion with Cherry Creek via Twitter, on Facebook, or by leaving a comment below.

Thanks to Julee Rosso, Silver Plate Cookbook author, Michigan Travel Ideas contributor, and owner of the Wickwood Inn in Saugatuck. Julee offers up great advice on cooking and entertaining in her series, Lessons from an Innkeeper.

Visit our Recipes post for more info on how to contribute your own recipe to share with our readers!

Prep: 35 minutes       Bake: 70 minutes

15 small round red potatoes (2 pounds)
1½ 8-ounce packages (12 ounces) cream cheese, softened
3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese, grated (¾ cup)
¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (3 ounces)
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼  cup purchased or homemade basil pesto
¼  cup olive oil
1   tablespoon snipped fresh rosemary
½  teaspoon sea salt, kosher salt or ¼ teaspoon salt

1. Scrub potatoes thoroughly with a brush; pat dry. Place on a large shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 400° oven for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tender. Remove baking pan from oven; cool potatoes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°.

2. For dip: In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, mozzarella, mayonnaise and pesto with an electric mixer until combined. Evenly spread mixture in 9-inch pie plate. Bake, uncovered, in 350° oven 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

3. For potato skins: When potatoes are cool enough to handle, use the tines of a fork and your thumbs to break each potato into 3 or 4 irregular (rustic-looking) pieces. Use a teaspoon to carefully scoop out the inside of each potato piece, leaving a shell about 1⁄4 inch thick. (Cover and chill the leftover white portion for another use.)

4. Place potatoes, skin side down, in a single layer on a large shallow baking pan. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with rosemary. Return to oven (time them to be finished with dip coming out of the oven) and bake 20 to 25 minutes more, or until crispy and heated.

5. Place dip in bowl in the center of a serving platter. Surround with potato skins. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

“We love this frittata because it’s more moist than most and is loaded with flavor in every bite,” says Julee Rosso of the Wickwood Inn in Saugatuck, Michigan. You’ll find truffle oil at specialty food stores.  Julee offers up great advice on cooking and entertaining in her series, Lessons from an Innkeeper.

Visit our Recipes post for more info on how to contribute your own recipe to share with our readers!

Prep: 40 minutes       Bake: 25 minutes
Stand: 15 minutes

2  tablespoons olive oil
8  tiny new potatoes or 3 medium red potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 2 ½ cups)
1  large onion, coarsely chopped
½  teaspoon kosher salt or 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
½  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12  ounces fresh asparagus, sliced into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1  cup arugula, baby arugula or baby spinach, slivered or coarsely chopped
¼  cup chopped cherry tomatoes or chopped tomato
1  cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 ounces) 
12  eggs, lightly beaten
1  ounce fresh Parmesan cheese, cut into shards
2  tablespoons white truffle oil, sesame oil or walnut oil (optional)

1. In a very large oven-going skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Carefully add potatoes, onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are just tender. Remove from heat.

2. Top the cooked potatoes with asparagus, arugula, tomatoes and mozzarella. Pour eggs over mixture.

3. Bake, uncovered, in a 350° oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until center is just set.

4. Place skillet on cooling rack; immediately sprinkle frittata with the Parmesan cheese. Let stand 15 minutes.

5. To serve, cut into 8 wedges. Serve immediately with a light drizzle of white truffle oil over each serving, if you like.

Makes 8 servings.

You can tell that we had a great apple season in Michigan this year – here’s another fantastic apple recipe submission!  Thanks to Barbara Jacobs for sending this one in – it sounds delicious!

When my children were younger and still lived at home we went apple picking every fall in Romeo, and for several months thereafter we ate LOTS of dishes containing apples.  This is one of my favorites.  It can be prepared in any amount and any proportion, depending on your preferences.

Serves 4

Pure Michigan Apples

• 4 boneless pork chops cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 – 4 apples, skin on, cored and coarsely chopped

1)  Melt 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine in a large heavy skillet over medium high heat.

2)  Brown meat, stirring.  Reduce heat and cook until pork is cooked through.  Remove from pan and set aside. 

3)  Using the same pan without cleaning it, sauté onions until golden, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan. Add margarine if needed.  Remove onions  from the pan and set aside. 

4.)  Melt about 3 tablespoons of margarine in the same pan without cleaning it.  Cook apples, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

5.)  When apples are crisp-tender, sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon sugar and stir. 

6.)  Stir in pork and onions to reheat.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Delicious with mashed potatoes and green beans.

Toast the holiday with a crimson drink, courtesy of the Silver Plate Cookbook author and Michigan Travel Ideas contributor Julee Rosso, who also owns the Wickwood Inn in Saugatuck. This spritzer is easy to make, which gives you more time for visiting with family and friends.  Julee offers up great advice on entertaining in Part 1 of her series, Lessons from an Innkeeper.  Visit our Recipes post for more info on how to contribute your own recipe to share with our readers!

Start to finish: 5 minutes

            1          cup 100% pomegranate juice or cranberry juice, chilled
            3          cups ginger ale or sparkling water, chilled
            24        whole cranberries
                        Ice cubes (optional)

1. Add 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice to eight balloon wine glasses, champagne flutes or small tumblers. Pour ginger ale into each glass. Garnish each with three cranberries. If you wish, add ice to the glasses.

Makes 8 servings.

Champagne Pomegranate Spritzers: Prepare spritzers as above, except substitute chilled champagne (3 cups) or dry white wine (750 ml bottle) for the ginger ale.

Thanks to Jeannine MacDonald for this delicous Michigan apple recipe!  We can’t wait to try it!  Check out our Recipes post to learn how to submit your own recipe for our blog!

MICHIGAN apples are the best. This is an easy receipe and can be bigger or smaller as you wish with mini changes.  I eat it for breakfast as it has fruit and cereal too!  Great with a bit of milk, ice cream etc. Sometimes better the next day if there is any left!

1)  PEEL 5-6 Michigan Apples core, slice thick and place in a pie pan

2)  Sprinkle with cinnamon

3)  In another bowl combine:

•  1 cup oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (other spices can be added like cloves and nutmeg in tiny amounts if you wish)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup of melted butter, oleo or just oil
• 1/4/ cup brown sugar

4)  Stir together and crumble over apples

5)  Bake at 350 until apples are tender.  30-45 minutes depending if you like some left with a bit of crunch

Thanks to Michigan Travel Ideas for submitting this great Cherry Republic Cherry Chili Recipe – we can’t wait to try it!  For instructions on how to submit your own recipe to us, check out our Pure Michigan Recipes post. 

As the seasons change, so do our taste buds. This is the time when we’re ready for comfort foods that are warm and soothing. Yes, we’re ready for chili, the classic one-pot wonder that tastes even better as leftovers. Here’s a new twist on an old favorite—Pure Michigan’s own Cherry Republic’s Cherry Chili. The tangy sweetness of the Michigan cherries add flavor to this hearty white-bean and chicken version. Serve with corn chips or corn bread, recipe follows.

Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes

Cherry Republic's Cherry Chili

1½ cups finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped green sweet pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
2 15- to 16-ounce cans great Northern or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 14-ounce cans chicken broth
1 9-ounce jar Cherry Republic Hot Cherry Salsa
3 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 bay leaves
½ cup half-and-half, light cream or whipping cream
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Cherry Republic Hot Cherry Salsa or desired purchased salsa (optional)
Corn Bread (recipe follows)

1. In a 4-quart Dutch oven, cook celery, onion, sweet pepper and garlic in hot butter over medium heat until tender. Add beans, broth, 1 cup cherry salsa, chicken, cumin and bay leaves. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

2. In a screw-top jar, combine cream and cornstarch. Cover and shake well; stir into chili. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. To serve, remove and discard bay leaves. Ladle chili into bowls and top with more salsa, if you like. Serve with wedges of warm Corn Bread.

Makes 8 servings.

Corn Bread

1 cup all purpose flour
¾ cup cornmeal
2-3 tablespoons sugar
2½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
¼ cup cooking oil or melted butter
1 tablespoon butter

1. In a medium bowl, stir together all-purpose flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt; set the mixture aside.

2. Add 1 tablespoon butter to a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or a 9×1½-inch round baking pan. Place in a 400-degree oven about 3 minutes, or until butter melts. Remove skillet from oven; swirl butter in skillet to coat bottom and sides of pan.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, eggs, milk and cooking oil or melted butter. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Pour batter into hot skillet or pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cut into wedges. Serve warm.

Makes 8 wedges.

No matter what the season, there’s one thing we all love, and that’s food.  So we’d love for you to share with our audience some of your favorite recipes, preferably ones that include a Michigan ingredient or two.  Whether it’s soups, stews, pastas, desserts, side dishes, main courses – you name it, we want to know about it. 

Have pictures of your food?  Or a story that goes along with it?  We’d love to hear it all.  Once a week, we’ll update this section with the recipes we receive.

Here’s how it works:

Send the following info to pure.michigan@fluencymedia.com:

• Your full name
• Name of recipe author (if different than yours)
• Contact Info (Twitter, Email, Facebook)
• Recipe
• Story or photos to go with the recipe (if applicable)

We can’t wait to share all of your great recipes!