Early Autumn Dishes from The Seasonal Plate

Bring the flavors of fall to the table with these sweet and savory dishes.  

Honey-Sage Sweet Potatoes, Pears, Cranberries with Walnuts

Cook's notes: Combine colorful vegetables and fruit for a delicious sweet and savory autumn side dish that pairs with grilled pork chops or roast turkey. The recipe can be easily doubled. It was adapted from Midwest Living and serves four.
Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes (3 cups)
• 1 red onion, cut in 1/2 inch wedges 
• 3 ripe pears, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
• 2 TB. olive oil or Blood Orange Olive Oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 TB. white balsamic vinegar, Aged Cinnamon Pear White or Honey Ginger White Balsamic
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts 
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• dash of pumpkin pie spice mix
• a drizzle of honey
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh sage or thyme or 1 tsp. dried sage or thyme
• optional addition: diced rutabagas 

Directions:

• Line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper.
• In a bowl toss together sweet potatoes, pears, onions, dried cranberries and olive oil.
• Spread mixture evenly on the baking pan. Drizzle with white balsamic vinegar and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. Roast at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until potatoes are crisp tender. Halfway through baking time stir mixture and add in walnuts. Serve roasted vegetables and pears as a side or a platter with roasted/grilled meat.
• Garnish with fresh sage or thyme.

Slow Cooker Smoked Pork Chops with Red Cabbage 

Cook’s notes: Recipe adapted from One Pan Recipes BHG Special Edition Publication and serves 4.
Ingredients:

• 6 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled, set aside 
• 6-7 cups shredded/chopped red cabbage 
• 1-1/3 cups chopped apples, peeled 
• 1 cup red onions 
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar or Aged Red Apple Balsamic Vinegar 
• 2 TB. quick-cooking tapioca, crushed and 2 TB. packed light brown sugar 
• 2 tsp. caraway seeds 
• 1 tsp. cinnamon or 1/2 tsp. Saigon cinnamon 
• ½ tsp. ground ginger 
• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper 
• Dash ground cloves 
• 3 TB. apple jelly 
• 4 smoked pork chops 
• 1 cup apple juice or cider and 1 cup chicken broth 

Directions:

• In a 4-5 quart slow cooker combine cabbage, diced onions and apples. Stir in vinegar, tapioca, brown sugar, caraway seeds, cinnamon, ginger and pepper and a dash of ground cloves. 
• Top with smoked pork chops. Add apple jelly on top of chops. 
• Pour juice or cider and broth over the mixture and cover. Cook on low heat 5-6 hours or high heat 4 hours. Stir mixture several times during the cooking time and add in bacon the last hour. Drain red cabbage mixture with a slotted spoon. Place on platter, top with chops.

Apple Pear Galette 

Cook’s notes: A galette is a free-form pastry, baked without a pie or tart pan. The dough is easy to make and much more forgiving than pie crust. The dough is rolled out flat, and then folded around the filling. It doesn’t matter if the crust tears a little or if the fruit juices leak out—galettes are supposed to look rustic. A prepackaged frozen pie crust thawed can be substituted for a homemade pie crust. Any mixed fruits (3 cups) e.g. blueberries, strawberries, raspberries; can be substituted for the pears and apples.
Ingredients:

• 1 rolled homemade pie crust or use a prepackaged crust 
• 2 Granny Smith apples and 2 pears, peeled and diced for a total of 3 cups fruit 
• 2 TB. granulated sugar and 2 TB. all-purpose flour 
• 2 tsp. cinnamon or 1 tsp. Saigon cinnamon 
• 1 TB. fresh lemon juice 
• 1 beaten egg mixed with ½ tsp. water (egg wash) 
• 2 TB sugar mixed with ½ tsp. cinnamon to sprinkle on crust 
• handful of diced almonds 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel and dice apples and pear into long, thin slices 
• Mix diced apples and pears, 2 TB. sugar, flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice. 
• Roll crust out on floured wax paper to the size of a dinner plate (about 10 inches) 
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Transfer piecrust to lined baking sheet. 
• Place filling in the middle of the rolled crust, leaving a minimum of one inch around the edges. 
• Gently fold the first edge in about one inch toward the center. Rotate slightly around the shell and fold the next piece, pinching together the overlapping “corner”. Repeat until all edges have formed what may appear to be a rustic pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, or octagon. 
• Brush the crust with a water or a milk egg wash on the folded over parts of the crust. 
• Sprinkle crust with cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. Turn oven down to 400 degrees and bake 20- 25 minutes longer. If galette browns too quickly tent tinfoil over it. 
• Remove cooked galette from oven, cool 5 minutes and transfer galette on parchment paper to wire rack to complete cooling.