APPLE PIE N’CHEESE BOATS
October is the official month of Apples when they are in their peak season.Glorious round ,red & green & crunchy ones.What is more autumn than that? Autumn is the season of crisp air, colorful falling leaves, mugs of cider, football and apple picking.So here I was with a basket full of apples wanting to create something beautiful with them,thats when I read an article a dear friend wrote about merging cultures, so I gave my twist to the culinary blend of cultures & came up with my own version of “Fatayer apple jebneh”.Have you heard of the phrase”As American as an Apple pie” well this is the same apple pie rowing down the gastric river, in Lebanese cheese boats.
” Fatayer el jebneh” are Arabic cheese pastries, one finds in any Middle Eastern cafes around the world,they make impressive party appetizers or great portable snacks .They are great for breakfast or with your evening coffee.The weather has been dull & cold,if not for the lovely changing colors of the fall leaves,it might be a dreary day,what better way to cheer oneself up than bake those delicious pastries & have the aroma of cinnamon & apple & cider surround you with their magic & warmth, so here I was experimenting, blending the two cultures with food & sure indeed they tasted yummy.
P.S: Nobody said an Apple pie has to be served the way they are, sometimes its fun letting them float in boats too:)
Table of Contents
APPLE PIE N’CHEESE BOATS
Ingredients
- For the dough:
1 cup 1 Self raising Flour
1/2 tsp 1/2 Yeast
1/4 cup 1/4 Milk
3 tsp 3 Oil
Water to sprinkle
Salt-to taste
- For the Filling:
2 2 Apples ( skinned & cubed)
a pinch Cinnamon
3 tbsp 3 Butter
3 tbsp 3 Brown sugar
2 tsp 2 Cider
2 2 -4 slices Cheddar Cheese (akkawi cheese is mostly used in arabic pastries,I used Cheddar)
Directions
- Mix the flour & salt together & set aside.
- In a separate bowl mix the yeast & milk & let it froth for a few minutes before pouring it on the flour mixture.
- Knead it well by sprinking water & adding a little oil to prevent sticking to the hands & then set aside for 20 minutes covered by a damp cloth.
- For the filling:
- Warm the butter in a vessel, now sprinkle cinnamon & sugar into it, then add the cubed apples into it.
- Stir for a few minutes, the add the cider into it & set aside.
- To make the boats:
- Take the dough out & make small balls which are elliptical shaped then role them out with a pin.
- Take one end of the rolled dough & tuck it in lengthwise while moving it to the center,do the same on the other side,until you shape both sides like a boat & now pinch the edges.
- Now add the apple filling in the center of these boats & place cheese slices on them
- Gently transfer them to a baking sheet where parchment paper is placed & then bake them in the pre-heated( 10 minutes) oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees .You can brush the top with little ghee to give that golden bown color on your pastries.
- Serve hot & enjoy your cheese boats with coffee.