Monday, January 28, 2013

Old Fashioned Apple Oatmeal Bars

This week, I found a nice piece of top sirloin in the freezer. It's been bitterly cold here, so beef stew sounded just about right. But I'm wary of beef being dry in stews, so I did a little research on top sirloin. Opinions ranged from my favorite cut, always flavorful to beware: sometimes great, sometimes terrible, you never know what you're getting when you buy this. Some people said only to cook it like a steak, while others raved about it for stew, cooking it from ten minutes to a whopping six hours!

That's always a great start. Now I do know that there's a point at which meat becomes tough but cooked longer it turns soft and can be pulled apart. The worse the cut, the better it is cooked long and slow. That's because the connective tissue collagen that makes it tough when cooked like a steak finally begins to turn to gelatin. If you're interested in a breakdown of the process, check out this article.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I followed the 10 minute idea (sounded safe) and it still turned tough. But the dogs gave it two tails up. Top sirloin goes on sale a lot. If you buy it, I recommend using it as a steak, no matter what the recipes say. Lesson learned.

So I made baked chicken nuggets out of chicken breast and whipped up two sauces. There's a game coming up and chicken nuggets seem a lot easier and lower fat than chicken wings. The Panko exterior held up beautifully, if a bit pale. The chicken inside was perfect. Not a bit tough, though they could have used a little more flavor in the breading. I took them to my mother to try. Two thumbs down. She didn't like them at all. But the dogs gave them two tails up. I may give them another shot. I really loved the tender chicken and the crispy Panko.

By now I'm thinking I'm having a lousy day and what I really want is comfort food. I read Mystery Lovers' Kitchen and there's Sofie Kelly's answer to a lousy day. I want that chocolate! But I still need a recipe to share with you.

For some reason, maybe the fact that it's January and cold, I've been craving oatmeal. So now I'm thinking chewy apple oatmeal bars. I stumbled across this recipe, which has been around for a long time. I don't know the original source, but sometimes the simple tried and true recipes are still the best. Note how little sugar is in this recipe!

When you mix the dry ingredients, the bottom layer will be quite thin. I expected the apples to bubble up a little bit but they didn't. I could see the apples on the edge when I lifted the parchment paper, so decided it would be best to allow it to cool in the pan. Gotta tell you -- it smells just like apple pie!


Apple Oatmeal Bars

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) + 2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 cups finely chopped apples
1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/4 brown & 1/4 white)


Preheat oven to 350. Line a 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper.

Melt the butter in the microwave (about 50 seconds). Mix the oatmeal, flour, salt, cinnamon and melted butter in a bowl. Use 1/2 of the mixture to line the bottom of the pan. Press into place.


Chop the apples and mix with sugar. Spread in pan. Crumble the remaining oatmeal mixture over top of the apples and gently press into place.

Bake 35 minutes.



The apples didn't ooze out.




 








18 comments:

  1. LOL....sounds like your dogs ate pretty well this week!!!! The apple oatmeal bars look delicious; maybe they will make me feel better -I have a terrible cold.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no! So sorry about the cold. Chicken soup would make you feel better! There really is something in chicken broth that helps.

      Yes, the dogs are pretty happy this week. They gave two tails up to the apple oatmeal bars, too.

      ~ Krista

      Delete
  2. There's no such thing as a bad apple recipe, right? I'm adding this one to my stash.

    I know what you mean about the meat--you really never know. These days health-conscious folk think lean meat is best for you, but they forget that a lot of the flavor and the texture reside in the fat and connective tissue. If you're really worried, use a cheap, well-marbled (that is, fatty!) piece of meat for your stew and skim off the fat that rises to the top.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sheila, you're so right. I seldom see that well-marbled beef in the store these days. They probably don't sell much because we're all pre-programmed to shun meat with fat in it.

    ~ Krista

    ReplyDelete
  4. You had me going. I'm seeing stew. I'm seeing nuggets. I'm thinking...what's with the title of the post? LOL. Love these apple bars. Yum! I adore comfort food and it's often sweet. Sometimes savory. Need some today, I think.

    Avery / Daryl

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! My little trick on everyone. The bars turned out very well. Finally -- something did!

      ~ Krista

      Delete
  5. I can't wait to try these apple bars!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. For what it's worth: I do "nuggets" in the oven. The breading is a mixture of panko and regular bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, herbs. I dip the chicken first in a mixture of milk and whole grain mustard (enough for flavor, but not to totally overpower).
    The apple bars sound great. Hm, maybe some softened dried apricots added to the apple mix? Chopped nuts in the oatmeal? Inspiring

    ReplyDelete
  7. Libby, I thought about half a dozen ways to doctor those apple bars, but the truth is that I love cooked apples, so that was the important part to me. Maybe I'll play with the recipe, though. I was thinking chopped pecans in the oatmeal.

    Thanks for telling me how you make your nuggets. I considered Parmesan cheese and used garlic powder. Mustard, eh?

    ~ Krista

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh Krista, you really did have a bad week--you deserve those oatmeal bars!! And I'd love one right now...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! Sometimes nothing works out quite right. But the bars are great. Wish I could share them.

      ~ Krista

      Delete
  9. LOL on two tails up, Krista. At our house, it's cat tails, but the same happy use for recipes that don't quite work out. We've had some of that bitter weather up here in NYC, and a hot bowl of oatmeal has been one one of my favorite breakfasts, so we're all stocked up and ready for your recipe today--easy apple pie with heart healthy oatmeal in the crust sounds great to me.

    ~ Cleo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My cats used to like a homemade snack now and then, but lately, they're more interested in cat food. Go figure!

      I'm eating oatmeal on these chilly mornings, too!

      ~ Krista

      Delete
  10. Krista, I love it when you get into a cooking mood--because that means we're going to get some great recipes! Thanks for sharing these. Oatmeal AND hot cooked apples - it doesn't get a whole lot better than that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wish some of these recipes had worked out better. But some days are just like that. I confess that I was tempted to try a corner of the bars with a spoon while it was still very warm. Yummy!

      ~ Krista

      Delete
  11. Delish! Boy are you a busy lady!
    Thanks, Krista. I especially like the idea of bars.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If only busy equated with success! But the bars were good.

      ~ Krista

      Delete