Lunch: Skillet-Baked Pear-and-Apple Crisp

In the fall, James Boyce picks the apples and pears for this cinnamon-spiced crisp right behind the restaurant. With Kentucky bourbon country only five hours north, he occasionally swaps out the Cognac here for bourbon.

This recipe includes fertility superfoods such as:

Cinnamon, Honey, Apples

Health and fertility benefits of Skillet-Baked Pear-and-Apple Crisp

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060). One tbsp of honey has a glycemic index (GI) of 55. Apples will improve your body's sensitivity to insulin (Reference: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/27/1/281.full)

Ingredients

1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup pecans
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples, —peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds firm Bartlett pears, — peeled, cored and thinly sliced
3/4 cup dried currants
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons Cognac
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 ° and butter a 12-inch cast-iron skillet.
In a food processor, combine the sugar with the flour, pecans and cinnamon. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is fine. Transfer the topping to a bowl and press into clumps.
In a large bowl, combine the apples and pears with the currants, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, honey and Cognac and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Spread the fruit in the skillet and scatter the topping over the fruit.
Bake the crisp in the center of the oven for about 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is browned. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving with ice cream.

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