Cranberry Apple Strudel

I think you can tell by my last few blog posts I didn’t give up food for a New Year’s resolution. I didn’t actually give up anything. My focus for 2019 is to grow, experience what life has to offer and try to live in a positive space.

Of course, that was until the “woman of the month club” shows up at my door, lands a giant foot on my uterus and whispers endless strings of doubts in my ear. She's not exactly a pillow talker that one. Luckily, she is a fickle guest and leaves to harass other expecting women for about 28 days. Shake it off.

Now, it’s back to focusing on the positive. Hard to do if you just flick on the TV. Thank goodness for Netflix and Hulu. What brings positivity in your life? Food is always a good start in The Bell House. We do what we can to have dinner as a family every night. Sports and after school activities derails that sometimes, but there is always Sunday dinner.

I can’t really remember when Michael and I started this family tradition. Was it pre-children? I just remember it became something we did because it was the only day there was nothing really going on in our lives. We could just be lazy and chill. It gave me a chance to research, develop and experiment with recipes. At some point, we started inviting my in-laws over for dinner and make them suffer through potentially devastating food tastings. I think there has only been one epic fail and I’ll blame it on the seafood.

Just this past Sunday I decided to make a strudel using up some puff pastry I had in the freezer and some apples in the fridge. Below is the recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

CRANBERRY APPLE STRUDEL:

1/2 batch of puff pastry or 1 sheet of frozen

5-6 small Gala apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1/2-3/4 cup of dried cranberries

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1/3 cup of brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon of vanilla

1/8 teaspoon of kosher salt

1/4 cup of flour

1/2 cup of confectioners sugar

1-2 tablespoons of water

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the apples and cranberries to the saucepan, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes.

Stir in the brown sugar and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the flour and stir until combined, about 1 minute. Take the mixture off the heat and pour into a bowl. Let cool for about 30 minutes.

Once cool, stir in the cinnamon, salt and vanilla.

PREPARATION TIP: At this point, the mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Time to roll out the puff pastry. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry to about an 1/8 of an inch thick and about 15 x 12 inches.

Spread the apples down the middle of the long side of the pastry. Turn the pastry so the short side is facing you and make cuts down each side of the filling about an inch apart.

Alternately fold each piece of dough over the filling. Stick the pastry in the fridge for about 30 minutes or up to 1 day. When you plan to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush with some melted butter or an egg wash, then sprinkle on some sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry has puffed and turns light brown. Mix together the confectioners sugar and water to get a glaze like consistency. Remember, you can always add more water, you can’t take it out. Drizzle the glaze over the pastry after ten minutes from its release from the oven.

You can serve 6-8 people. Depends on how big of a piece you want. Five of us ate the whole thing.