Grilled apples, shaved cheese, honey and toasted nuts... (insert Homer drool here)

Woo! We've been busy... we cranked out 12 new recipes this week. Choosing our favorites were a little harder this time, but if we have to choose, they would be the Lemon-Lime Layer Cake, Apricot-and-Cheddar Chicken Melt, Maple-Chili Glazed Pork Medallions and we can not forget about those fantastic Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars. I also finally brought both sections of the recipes to the left up to date - whew, I got a little behind there!

I guess it is about time that we start doing something with all those darn apples we picked, besides of course just grabbing them for something quick to munch on. While this only uses one (very large!) apple, the recipe for Grilled Apples with Cheese and Honey was an excellent way to begin!

You can peel your apples if you like, but just like potatoes, we quite like the skin left on. The apples are cut into thick slices and then the core is remove - I used a tiny heart-shaped cookie cutter for something fun and different, but a round cutter works just as well. If it is still warm outside or you are a die-hard grill user, I wouldn't hesitate to fire it up just for these (or leave it on after you have finished grilling your dinner), but we just used our Griddler instead. You could also use a grill pan if you have one handy.

Before being slapped on the grill, they are dressed with oil and confectioners' sugar. You want to cook the rings until they are tender, but still retain a slight bite. The warm apples are then topped with thin slices of sharp White Cheddar, a sprinkling of toasted pecans and a drizzle of sweet sticky apple blossom honey. If you want a more pronounced sharpness, you could trade the White Cheddar for an equal amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese - that is my plan when I make this again! The apple blossom honey brought a special note with its mild apple scent, but I imagine this would be well received with whichever variety of honey you have in your pantry.

Now, the verdict on tonight's dinner review was a little split... unlike that soup from a few nights ago, I thought these Crab Dogs were fairly good (nothing to write home about though) where Jeff didn't care for them much.

The original recipe did call for regular coleslaw, but we used crunchy broccoli slaw as we like texture better. To moisten the slaw, it is coated in a mixture of mayonnaise, fresh lime juice, lime zest, cumin and fresh cilantro. To that, a hefty dose of lump crabmeat is gently folded in and the mixture is stuffed into soft whole wheat hot dog buns. A scattering of feathery chopped dill is the finishing touch to these interesting sandwiches. Since we are not big on seafood (we're trying! I swear!), I think we are still pretty picky on what we will eat - I thought it was pretty good, albeit a bit on the lime-y side, but Jeff thought the crab was a little too pungent for his tastes. More for me I guess - I won't mind having the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, but I think I will have to throw something else together for Jeff to eat! Not bad, but I probably wouldn't jump to make it again.

Recipes
Grilled Apples with Cheese and Honey
Crab Dogs