My Mother’s Recipes – Sautéed Apples and Walnuts on Buttered Canapés with Whipped Cream

I was recently sifting my way through a plastic shoebox that contained three recipe card boxes, piles clipped from newspapers, and other loose recipes. I assumed they were entirely Jeanette’s, my maternal grandmother’s, however, they could not have all been hers. The cards were written in different handwriting, and there were stacks of recipes my grandmother would never make. I asked my mother for help.

As we sat at her dining room table late one evening, we instantly recognized that one box was entirely in my grandmother’s scrawl. Noodle kugels, gefilte fish, and kreplach, among dozens of recipes for baked goods. My mother commented on each one. She matched specific recipes to certain holidays, she knew which ones her bubbe – her grandmother – also used to make, extending the family tradition, and as we came across them, she proclaimed some as her favorites. We had to laugh when the directions for liver knishes declared 200 servings! (Apparently, my grandmother and great grandmother froze and sold them, hoping to make it into a successful business.)

Another file box was labeled “Brenda’s Favorite Recipes.” These were familiar to neither my mother nor me. We decided they were likely from an old friend of my parents who perished many years ago in a car accident along with her husband. I must have been about four or five at the time and my memories are fuzzy, to say the least. I guess my mother inherited her recipes.

The final recipe box was clearly in my mother’s script. Neat and tidy, the first section contained about two dozen perfectly penned 3 x 5 cards listing dinner party dates, the menu for the evening, and the guests. I knew everyone. They were my parents’ friends, but the dishes were ones I never knew my mother to prepare. Their “gourmet dinner group” met approximately every six weeks at one another’s homes for about seven years.

Behind the menu cards, each section in the box was a category signifying a part of a meal or type of food – hors d’oeuvres, bread and rolls, soups, sauces, and stocks, fish, cakes, cookies, and candies. Other tags for meats, poultry, and vegetables must have dropped off and disappeared over the years. Yet the recipes were there and my mother had cooked them all. Most were not her own creations, simply those of the times. Julia Child and Gourmet magazine were clearly heavy influences – Timbales de Foies de Volaille (chicken liver custards), Carbonnade à la Flamande (Flemish beef stew), Caneton à L’Orange (duckling in orange sauce). It was the mid to late 1960s, after all.

Growing up my father did most of the family cooking and was my primary mentor in the kitchen. But sorting through her recipe box, which I found fascinating, I realized the important role my mother played. She initially taught my father to cook certain foods. It turns out, for instance, that his brisket, which everyone loves, was initially her recipe. At some point when I was still fairly young, I took over her responsibility – under her guidance, of course – making pizzas every Wednesday for the family. When I was a teenager, she patiently showed me some of her mother’s and grandmother’s recipes, apple strudel and potato knishes, for example. She even gifted me her bubbe’s rolling pin passed to her mother and now to me, which I proudly still use when preparing these family classics. And when I requested them, she would even write out recipes on 3 x 5 cards and mail them to me at college. My mother is an accomplished cook. Examining her way of cooking as demonstrated in her old recipe box made me understand her influence on my life in the kitchen and helps pass on family traditions, which I look forward to passing on to my own children.

Sautéed Apples and Walnuts on Buttered Canapés with Whipped Cream

As we searched through my mother’s recipes, we discovered this one, which is of her own creation. A necessity of making dessert out of what you have on hand, it is simple and delicious. She told me she often likes a lighter dessert containing fruit after a heavy meal. Despite the apples, with bread, butter, and whipped cream, I’m not exactly sure this dish qualifies as “light.” It is certainly quick and easy. Perhaps not overly fancy, it is perfect as an easy-to-make dessert for a dinner party with friends. She also said it can be served without the canapés – just apples and walnuts. In fact, she didn’t even remember serving it with either bread or whipped cream and today instead of whipped cream, she would use yogurt mixed with a little maple syrup and vanilla.

I have taken her original recipe, on the card shown above, and provided more specifics in terms of ingredients and quantities and expanded the directions. Of course, I’m not sure what I’ve done is really an improvement on the original considering the “use whatever you have on hand” nature of the recipe.

15 minutes, serves four

4 tsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 Tbsp. salted butter, divided

4 – ¼-inch thick slices of brioche, challah, or other light bread

1 cooking apple (such as Granny Smith, Fuji, or Honeycrisp), cut into thin slices or small pieces

2 tsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. triple-sec or other orange liqueur (or rum or brandy)

¼ cup walnuts (or other nuts), toasted and broken into pieces

whipped cream for serving (1 cup heavy cream, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar)

1. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small dish to make cinnamon sugar. Set aside.
2. Prepare the canapés. Heat two tablespoons of butter over medium in a skillet large enough to hold all the bread. Cook bread on one side until it is golden brown. Add one more tablespoon of butter to the skillet, let it melt, flip bread, and cook until done. Remove bread from the skillet, place on four plates for serving, and sprinkle about 1 tsp. of cinnamon sugar on each canapé. Set aside.
3. Place the remaining tablespoon of butter in the skillet, and when melted, add apples. Heat until cooked through, but not mushy, about two or three minutes per side. Add the remaining teaspoon of cinnamon sugar, as well as lemon juice and orange liqueur, and toss to coat apples.
4. Spoon warm apples and sauce (if there is any) on top of canapés, dividing evenly, and top with toasted walnuts and whipped cream. Serve immediately.

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