Beautiful Apples

About three years ago I went to a grafting workshop at a nearby cider orchard and came home with what looked like two dead sticks wrapped in an elaborate bandaid.
After planting and tending and worrying, this year I have a healthy four foot tall tree with a collection of deep red Arkansas Black apples, a unique American variety that dates back to the late 19th century.
Arkansas blacks keep well and grow sweeter with storage but they really shine when added to pies and sauces for unique layered apple flavor.

YIPPPIIIIEEEEEE!

Of all the years to miss the fair.
I was out of town for work and then just made it back for a day and a half of power weeding, cooking and general improvements before our houseguests rolled into town.
I was in such a rush getting dinner into the oven today I ran late and had to ask James to run down to the fair office to pick up my entries. I had no idea I'd won and it turns out this is my best Marin County Fair ever.
I missed seeing my own "pyramid" of prizes and getting my picture in the paper. I admit I was a little disheartened after the Sonoma-Marin fair this year. I usually do very well there and my jellies -- one of which I thought was the best I ever made -- were not a big hit with the judges. And yet -- that very same jelly, Gewürztraminer plum, took best in show in the Preserves competition at Marin county along with my Apple Bourbon jelly which took best in show in the Homegrown category.
I was giddy when James walked in the door.
I love the fair.
I'm never going to miss one again.

American As . . .

Apple, raisin, pecan pie with flaky lard and butter crust.

I pulled this beauty (unbaked) from the freezer just in time to bake up an all American dessert with visiting friends.

Warm pie for dessert. Who needs fireworks?

A Pretty Good Day At The Fair

 
Though I just got home yesterday and was admittedly pretty exhausted, I couldn't resist a new contest at the Sonoma County Fair. The fair is trying to bring back old fashioned baking contests where contestants bring their goods right to the judging and wait to hear the results. Today was all about apple pies and I arrived just in time to place my still warm from the oven apple pie on the table of entries.
Contest rules called for Sonoma county apples and this time of year that means Gravensteins, a green or sometimes green streaked with red apple that is just tart enough to make a pie interesting and sweet enough to feel like dessert. This part of California was once famous for Gravensteins. But with soft skin that bruises easily Sonoma's favorite apple never became popular too far outside of the immediate area. Too bad. Their flavor is sublime and with a few Pink Pearl apples -- a little known sweet-tart apple developed in Northern California some 70 years ago -- sliced into the pie I had a winning combination of flavors.
But I can never leave well enough alone.
I started my pie with a bourbon caramel sauce. I boiled 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water without stirring until it was a nice amber color. Off the heat I quickly stirred in 1/2 cup heavy cream and stirred cooling the caramel for 1 minute. Then I added in 1/4 cup of bourbon and returned the sauce to the heat and boiled for 1 more minute -- stirring constantly. Off the heat I stirred in  a dash of  Vanilla Nouveau's super flavorful bourbon tinged vanilla extract -- my favorite secret ingredient for a double hit of toasty caramel flavor.
With by bottom lard and butter crust rolled out in the pie plate I poured in half of my cooled caramel sauce and topped it with 9 peeled and sliced apples mixed with a pinch of salt, 1/2 cup toasted walnuts (chopped) 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (more bourbon vanilla flavor), 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 2 TB of flour. I piled the apple mixture on top of the crust, and dotted the fruit with 1 1/2 TB of butter cut in small pieces. Instead of another crust I opted for a streusel topping of 6 TB butter cut in pieces, 2/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts, 1/4 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of flour all mixed together with a fork to create big pieces of tasty dough. I piled the streusel on top of the apples and popped the pie in the oven for 50 minutes at 375º. As soon as the pie came out of the oven I poured the remainder for the warmed caramel sauce over the streusel and ran off to the fair.
A nail biting hour or so later I was handed a rosette and tally sheets from two judges scoring my slap dash run out of the house pie a 98. I couldn't be prouder.
I'm never too tired for a blue ribbon.

Sweets Of The Season

It's a pie time of year. Thanksgiving is a pie holiday and it ushers in a season of sugarplums and Christmas cookies.
Despite what may have been a pie overload on turkey day -- when friends came to lunch the last of our precious tree's apples became a flaky sweet dutch apple crumb pie. I love the holidays.

Veteran's Day Apple Pie

We have an apple tree. Every year at this time I try to make sure none of those beautiful apples go to waste. Jams, jellies, apple sauce, and today while I was slicing fruit for a jelly attempt (don't even ask it has not been a banner jelly year) I decided on a little pie. Unless we are having company I don't usually make dessert for dinner but the big bowl of apples on the table and more on the tree seemed like a good excuse -- and besides I had a beautiful all butter pie crust in the freezer ready to go.
Nothing fancy, I soaked some raisins in bourbon for about 1/2 hour for a little extra flavor. Added the drained raisins to my very thin apple slices along with a sprinkle of flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract and tiny cubes of butter. I rolled out the dough, fit it snugly into my mini pie pans, piled the filling as high as possible (like a softball sitting in the crust), dotted the top with butter and rolled on the top crust. After quickly crimping the edges, brushing on a little milk and sprinkling sanding sugar James' little pie baked for 20 minutes at 450º and another 20 minutes at 350º until the filling was bubbling and the crust golden brown.

Gravenstein Apple Cake

When guests come I like to leave a little something for their breakfast. It's hard for guests from town to figure just how far we are from a Starbucks or a quick run to the store so we make sure we're supplied. More often than not our supplies might include this moist apple cake. It's super quick to make, stays fresh for several days on the counter, and feature our home canned apples so we always have the ingredients on hand.
For the batter, starting from a recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen,  I sift together 2 3/4 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1 TB baking soda. In a separate bowl I combine 1 cup vegetable oil, 2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup oranges juice, and 2 1/2 tsp vanilla. I mix the wet ingredients into the dry and then add 4 eggs one at a time. Half the batter goes in a tube pan topped by half the batch of my home canned apples (I mix a drained 1 qt jar of apples with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 Tb cinnamon). Then another layer of batter and the rest of the apples on top. Sometimes I add nuts. Sometime just the apples. You could make this cake with fresh apple as the Smitten Kitchen recipe does (6 peeled and cubed) but for me the joy is using my jarred apples out of season to give guests a truly local -- right in our own backyard -- taste.

The Apples Keep Coming

With so many varieties, apples have a long, fruitful season. Mercifully they are exceptionally versatile because all kind of apples show up in all kinds of dishes around here.

The other day I asked James to pull a package of ground beef out of the freezer and somehow he managed to thaw the lone pie dough I had tucked away instead. Clearly that was a sign. That along with the bowl of apples taking up space in the fridge.

I turned those ingredients, along with some apple sauce I made with the leftover cooked fruit while canning apple jelly, in a quick pie. First I rolled the dough out to a thin round and sprinkled the pastry with sugar. Next, following an idea for apple tarts I saw online and plan on making my own, I spread a thinnish layer of apple sauce on the dough (about 6-8 TB). Piled on top of the apple sauce were peeled apple slices tossed with lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and sugar (about 1/2 cup). I folded up the crust around the apples for a rustic, no pan dessert. 

The pie sat in the fridge for 30 minutes while the oven preheated to 400º. Just before baking I brushed the crust with egg wash and sprinkled the dough with sugar. After 35 minutes in the oven I pulled out a fragrant, crisp, fall-worthy treat for James.

"Is that for eating now?" He said peering into the kitchen.

It's always time for dessert around here, especially during apple season.

Apple Brownies

Apples are still in season around here. So I'm still trolling the internet for ways to use them up. I've canned, I've jellied, I've rolled out pies. Today for a simple dessert I happened upon a recipe from Martha Stewart for apple brownies. Not chocolate but simple and quick and really delicious. I creamed 1 sick of melted butter with 1 cup of sugar and 1 egg under pale yellow. I stirred in 2 apple chopped into 1/2" pieces and 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts. Lastly I stirred in 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp baking soda blended together. I scraped the batter into a oblong pyrex dish ( I think it was 7" x 13") and baked for about 40 minutes at 350º. Simple.
For dinner I "frosted" the top with spicy apple butter and dusted with powdered sugar but these are just as good right out of the pan.

Apples Keep Pork Chops Company

We have a lot of apples. We share them with the deer and the neighboring cattle but we still have more than enough to eat out of hand. They start to show up in the darnedest places. Tonight I used up a bit of our apple bounty in this quick one skillet dish of pork chops with apples and onions, adapted from a Lucinda Scala Quinn recipe. I started by searing the seasoned chops on both sides in a hot skillet glistening with olive oil. I set the chops aside and added 1 sliced onion and 3 cored and sliced apples along with 2 TB of butter to the skillet and let the mixture soften (and just start to caramelize) for about 10 minutes. Next I poured in 1 cup of red wine and placed the chops in the skillet surrounded by the liquid which I let simmer for about another 10 minute, turning the chops halfway through. I plated the chops and boiled the skillet just a few minutes longer to reduce the sauce.
Next to James' chops I laid down a field of fresh picked, quickly sautéed collard greens favored with garlic and chili peppers.
We have a full garden. We have a lot of collards.

Soup And Sandwich

We recently discovered a new apple tree on the new homestead (well we've been walking by it but it didn't have fruit last year so we didn't know we had it). It's a leggy Gravenstein, an early season apple that is both highly regarded for baking and eating out of hand. The yellow-green and red striped fruits were once was the center of the apple industry in these parts and a neighboring town stills hosts a Gravenstein festival every August.
I found myself looking at a pile of apples with an oven on the blink (no pie today). Somehow that led me to soup. I had an scorn squash just begging to be cooked. I started a stock pot with 2 strips of thick bacon over medium heat. When the bacon had crisped and rendered a good amount of fat I set the meat aside and popped a chopped onion and 3 minced cloves of garlic into the pan to sauté in the bacon fat (delicious!). When the vegetables had softened (about 6 minutes) I added in two cored apples and that large acorn squash -- both peeled and chopped, along with one diced tomato, a bay leaf, two cups of chicken broth, and about a cup of water. I covered the pot and let the squash simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. I puréed the soup in the blender along with a dash of milk (about 1/2 cup) and served James his dinner topped with a little of that crisp bacon alongside a toasty grilled cheese sandwich.

Marin-Sonoma County Fair

My favorite time of year, county fair season. I love it all. The midway (though I never get on a ride or play a game), the greasy snacks (though I never order one), the high flying dog shows and of course; the animal competitions.

A sweet Jersey heifer getting prettied up for her chance in the ring,

4H hopefuls waiting for the judge.

 Another little lady and her bovine.

Everyone loves a pony ride.

A first for my in all my fair going years -- a kid's pedal tractor pull. Who could resist 6 year solids pulling 170 pounds on a pedal John Deere? Riveting!

A happy day at the the fair for me. My first ribbon. A third prize win for my apple bourbon jelly. Next year I'm going for the blue.

Welcome Home Honey

Every now and then James decides he is going to juice. And he does . . . for a bit. But then I am invariably left with giant bags of carrots or apples filling up our very small fridge. Today I decided to use up some of those apples and welcome James home at the same time with this maple walnut apple upside down cake.

Upside down cakes are on of my favorite easy desserts. For this maple version (starting from an old Food and Wine Magazine recipe) I boiled down a cup of maple syrup to make a thick toping. I poured the reduced syrup into a 10" buttered and floured cake pan and topped the syrup with thinly sliced apples and chopped walnuts. To cover the fruit I poured a batter of 1 1/2 sticks butter creamed with 1 1/3 cup sugar I mixed together 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and a tsp of salt in one bowl. In another bowl I mixed almost 3/4 cup of milk with a dash of vinegar (about 2 tsp -- no buttermilk in the house), 3 eggs and about 1 TB of bourbon. I added the dry and wet ingredients (alternating) to the creamed butter and then spread the batter over the waiting fruit and syrup. The cake baked for 1 1/2 hours at 350º and then cooled for 45 minutes in the pan before I unmolded the sticky, apple dessert.

Maybe a little wintery for a chilly April day but it's nice to have the room in the fridge (and James back too).

Pork Chops and Apple (Onion) Sauce

Easy, fast, delicious. I seared double cut pork chops (rubbed with S&P, oregano, and chilis) in olive oil (bout 4 minutes a side) and then set them aside on a plate. To the fat remaining in the skillet I added about 2 TB of butter and let that melt then tossed in 1 sliced onion, 2 sliced apples, and a clove of minced garlic. I let those cook over medium heat until the onions were soft and poured in a cup of chicken broth and a bay leaf, brought the mixture to a simmer and added the pork chops back in. The chops simmered in the sauce for about 10 minutes until they were cooked through but still moist and juicy. Easy, fast, delicious.

Thick Pork Chops For A Winter's Night

Not quite photogenic, but this dish was a real winner. I actually followed a recipe (okay I added a pinch of cayenne the recipe didn't call for) a straight forward creation by Tyler Florence for Thick pork chops with spiced apple and raisins. Brown sugar brined pork chops, quickly seared and baked in the oven are topped with a warm compote of apples (you know we have a few of those around) and unexpectedly, raisins. Warm, wintery, hearty and delicious.

It Grows On Trees

From our new bedroom window I can see our apple tree brimming with big, red and yellow apples. Now James will happily eat an apple a day of sweet crisp apples like Fuji or Pink Lady. Though their variety is as of yet unidentified these are certainly cooking apples. Not too sweet and a bit mealy at this point I am trying to come up with recipes to make use of our bounty (aside from tossing them to the happy cows that graze along our fence). So far I've made apple cake, apple sauce, and I'm looking at a New Year's morning with apple muffins or apple pancakes. But for now there is an ever growing bag of apples waiting for me.

Tonight I opted for a savory dish. If pork chops and apple sauce are a famous combination, I pondered, why not pork stew with apples. I just happened to have port stew meat in the freezer. AFter a very quick internet search I happened along on a "harvest" stew and based on dinner on this recipe.

I started with hot oil in a pan and browned the pork. Next I added in chopped onions and garlic, crushed red peppers, shopped rosemary, fresh thyme, and plenty of chopped sage. When the onions were softened I added in chicken broth, brought the whole pot up to a boil and then let the meat simmer for about 20 minutes, covered. Next I added in cubed butternut squash, apples and potatoes and again let the pot simmer, this time uncovered, for about 20 minutes.

In the end we had a warm, cozy stew that was a little bit sweet and a little bit spicy and just right for a foggy cool winter day.

Neighbors Bearing Gifts

A couple days ago our neighbor down the road, Sally, reached a big bag of apples over our back fence. Sally and her husband Mike run a "you-pick" apple orchard and on the weekends folks drive out from town for their hnand-picked share of the country.

James is aways happy to have apples to eat out of hand (especially topped wth peanut butter and raisins) but since we had so many and since I am still getting on good terms with this oven, I decided to try a cake. I am still the same lazy cook I was in our last kitchen and with no mixer on the counter (we still have boxes to unpack) I wanted an easy mix (no butter to cream) cake and zeroed in on a recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen, a moist long cooking oil instead of butter (a Jewish-style apple cake) cake.

James loves the combination of slightly crispy sweet crust and the cinnamon flavored butter soft apples.

It's good to have neighbors . . . neighbors with fruit trees.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

A couple apples just past their prime in the fridge seemed like a good excuse for muffins.

I creamed one stick of butter with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Next I mixed in one egg, 1/2 cup buttermilk, and 1/2 cup yogurt. To the wet ingredients I added 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup white flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 tsp cinnamon ( I stirred the dry ingredients together before adding them to the mixture). When the batter was just mixed I folded in two apples, peeled and chopped. I spooned the batter into 12 greased and floured cupcake tins, sprinkled the top of each muffin with more brown sugar (abot 1/4 cup total) and baked the muffins for 10 minutes at 450º and then about 6 minutes longer at 400º.

Next time I think I might sauté the apples or even shred them to make the pieces more tender, but for a hurry up pantry-ready breakfast treat these were just right -- and pretty great with a bit of peanut butter spread on top.

Some Nights You Need Dessert

Bread pudding is a welcome canvas for leftovers. We have a freezer full of bread, eggs and milk in the fridge, a pile of apples and an unusually (for us) well stocked bar. Since the hazelnut bread isn't James' favorite for sandwiches I figured it was the perfect starting point for a custardy dessert. I removed the crusts and cut the bread into 1 inch chunks and toasted them in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350º. Meanwhile I soaked 1/2 cup of raisins in a splash of boubon. Next I melted two TB of butter in a skillet and added about a cup (well a heavy cup) of 1/2" peeled apple chunks, along with 1/4 cup of brown sugar ( we've run out of white sugar and I was determined to make this dessert with what we had on hand). I sautéed the apples until they were tender (about 15 minutes) added 1/2 tsp cinnamon and about 1/4 cup of bourbon and stirred over moderate heat until the bourbon made a sticky syrup (less than a minute). I poured 4 cups of milk (well a mixture of milk and cream -- that is, after all, that's what we had in the house) into a large bowl and added in the toasted bread cubes, the plumped raisins, and the caramel apples. In a separate bowl I beat 3 eggs with 1/2 cup of brown sugar (here I would have preferred white), 1 TB of vanilla, 1/2 tsp of allspice and another pinch of cinnamon. I stirred the eggs into the bread crumb mixture and poured my bread pudding in the making into a baking dish (7" x 11" I think). I drizzled the top with about 3 TB of melted butter and pre-baked the pudding for 50 minutes at 300º, then sprinkled the top with a drizzle of brown sugar and during dinner let dessert heat up in the oven (and crisp on top from the sugar sprinkle) for another 25 minutes or so at 350º. The result was soft and custardy and definitely alcoholic. With a dollop of creme fraiche it was a perfect winter dessert.

Happy Hanukah

Because there is nothing James likes quite so much as fried potatoes and it's that time of year I grated some potatoes and made a batch of latkes (potato pancakes) for his dinner. Tradition be damned I wiped them up in the food processor. I grated 3 russet potatoes and 1 onion, Then in a bowl I mixed in two eggs and about 3/4 cup of mazoh meal (I just happened to have it otherwise I would have used flour) and a good bit of salt and pepper. I shallow fried the little pancakes in peanut oil until browned on both sides and served them with a dollop of homemade applesauce (4 chopped peeled apples, 1/4 cup of sugar , 1 tsp of cinnamon and 3/4 cup water cooked in a covered saucepan for about 15 minutes and then puréed),

A holiday about fried foods -- that's a holiday I can get behind.