Kitty's Corner

Not too sure about the marzipan but the rest sounds and looks good

It *does* work very well with marzipan (assuming you like marzipan of course)

Yes, no marzipan, no no. Still, I can be in Copenhagen by nine.

I love apple crumble. Add a dollop of ice cream or custard and it`s perfect. Give me that any day, rather than a fancy dessert that`s gone in two mouthful.
P.S. cloves or cinnamon can be added to give a traditional flavour.

My mum used to put cloves in apple pie. I've always loathed the flavour of cloves utterly, and never enjoyed apple pie until after I left home when I was 17

Cinnamon is quite acceptable, although I think ultimately I prefer my apple pies straight. Just apples, sugar and pie

But is it as functional as a normal crumble?

Normal?

Functional?

I'd prefer the 'traditional' recipe myself. .

I'm extremely familiar with the various traditional recipes in UK (and NZ, which are not quite as nice i m o) and they're all good - although it seems that 'traditional' recipe varies somewhat depending upon the country of origin.

A '50s edition of a standard UK cookbook would probably provide the most accessible 'traditional' recipe - maybe Mrs Beeton would too...but I can't believe that the fruit crumble concept only happens in UK - other apple cropping euro countries must have their own hundreds-of-years-old varieties too....anyone got any french\belgian\dutch cookbooks from the early 20th century, with which to investigate and compare??

I suspect that crumble happened because someone once buggered up the pastry

You put marzipan in everything nice idea to change the traditional one though. I likey rhubarb crumble best.

Cabbage/Onion Crumble anyone or how about a nice Beetroot/Cherry Crumble with wazabi cream?

Savoury Fish crumble is *really* nice. I expect Cabbage & Onion could be polished up a bit to make it edible, too

Savoury Fish Crumble

Ingredients...
400g/14oz Cold Cooked white fish (poached or steamed)
200g/7oz Cold Cooked Fresh Salmon (poached or steamed)
200g/7oz Cooked Peeled Prawns or Shrimps
100g/4oz Cheddar Cheese, grated
300ml/10fl.oz. Milk
1 Tbsp Flour
25g/1oz Butter
1 Tbsp Freshly Chopped Parsley
Juice of 1 Lemon

For the Crumble...
57g/3oz Butter, softened
1175g/6oz Wholemeal Flour
2 teasp Dried Mixed herbs
50g/2oz Finely Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Black Pepper

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200C, 400F Gas Mark 6.

Flake the fish into large pieces and place in an ovenproof dish together with the prawns\shrimps. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the four and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes over a medium heat.

Gradually add the milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Remove from the heat and add half the lemon juice, all the parsley, pepper and a little salt.

Sprinkle in the cheddar cheese and blend well with a wooden spoon. At this point taste the sauce and add more lemon juice or cheese if required. Mix well then pour over the flaked fish.

In a large mixing bowl, rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs then stir in the mixed herbs, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the top of the fish and bake for 25- 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot.

Alternate topping :
If you don't want to use the crumble mixture, you can use mashed potatoes sprinkled with grated cheese and baked as above until golden brown.

I know a cook who made fish frozen dessert once. I think it was a smoked trout sorbét or something. I didn't taste it because I am too conservative in my taste of food, but those who dared said it was out of the ordinary but actually quite nice. Chocolate and chili also mix surprisingly well.

Originally posted by Zaphira:

Simple is good. Then you can also taste what's in it.

I couldn't have said that better.

Home made is best. My grandmother can make cakes far better than any shop ones. Perhaps because they are made with natural ingredients or because they are not mass produced.

Originally posted by Aqualion:

Chocolate and chili also mix surprisingly well

I think it was the Aztecs that invented that

But the Aztecs knew fuck all about making a decent apple crumble, I'll bet That's no doubt why they are no longer the culinary force they may have once been

Actually, I'm pretty sure I saw an Aztec stone relief depicting a guy wearing an enormous pine-apple shaped hat once. However, I do not recall to have ever seen an Aztec stone relief depicting a guy wearing and apple crumble shaped hat.

Conclusion: Flarin is right.

Pineapple crumbel??