Accidental Hedonist

This is a perfect partner to your Vanilla ice creams and gelatos.

These are a bit different that the American version of Apple fritters, in that the apples are not chopped into tiny little bits and then added to the dough. Rather, apple slices are coated and then fried. I tried something a little different myself, opting for a doughnut type slice of apple, as opposed to an apple segment. But hey, that’s me. I’m a rebel.

The oil recommended for frying? Sunflower.

• 1 1/2 cups AP Flour
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 5 Tablesspoons Marsala wine
• grated lemon rind from 1/2 lemon
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 6 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1/4 cup sugar

Blend the flour, eggs, milk, 5 Tablespoons of Marsala, lemon rind and 2 Tablespoons sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Combine 1 cup Marsala wine and 1/4 cup sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add apple slices and allow to marinate for 10 minutes. The wine does not have to coat every slice.

Bring oil up to temperature, about 350 degrees.

Dipe the apple slices in the batter and deep fry until brown. Turn them over as needed in order to ensure through cooking. Remove the fritters from the oil and drain on paper towels. Coat immediate with sugar and cinnamon.

Serves 6

This…this wasn’t as good as my previous pork chop experience, and I put the blame entirely on the swine industry. There was one strip of fat, one, on both chops. These were the best of the bunch at the local corporate grocery store’s butcher counter.

Ugh… lesson learned. No more buying pork at these places.

Anyways, it’s not horrible. Just dry. But the gravy afterward rocked the house.

• 2 10 oz. Pork Loin Chops (1 1/2 inch thick)
• 6 oz of your favorite blue cheese
• 3 oz chopped walnuts
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 large Granny Smith Apples, cored and sliced into eigths
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup Reisling wine
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardomom (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons cold butter, diced

First off, dry your pork loin with a paper towel. Cut a pocket in one side of the chop. Do this by inserting a sharp, thin-bladed knife into the center of the side of the chop and sweeping the tip of the knife back and forth by pivoting the blade at the point where it enters the meat. Set aside chop for a moment.

Crumble the blue cheese and mix with walnuts. Pepper to taste. Combine thoroughly.

Stuff the pork chops with the cheese/walnut mixture until the pork chop is over flowinh. Fasten the chop closed with toothpicks. Sprinkle chops generously with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, add olive oil and heat over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the chops and sear for about five minutes. Flip and sear the other side for another five minutes. Lower the heat to medium, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Plate and cover with aluminum foil in order to keep warm.

Using the same skillet, turn the heat back up to medium-high. Add the apples and saute until browned on both sides. Pour into the skillet the vinegar and wine. While the liquid is reducing, scrap the bottom of the skillet for the brown fronds left behind by the pork. Stir in the spices (including salt and pepper). Put in the butter, a little at a time, until the liquid is thick and…well…gravy! Remove from heat.

Cover teh chops with apples and gravy and serve! Feel free to top with any remaining cheese and walnuts.

Serves 2

Do you want to know what satisfaction is? Satisfaction is eating a slice of Galette a day after it’s been made. It’s given you enough time to seperate yourself from the cooking process, so you can judge it, not based on if was in the oven long enough, or if you could have made the crust more efficiently. No, now you can judge based solely on the fact whether you like it or not.

I have judged my galette, and it was good!

• 1/2 of Pâte Brisée
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon raw sugar
• 2 Large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/8″ pieces
• 3 Tablespoons raw sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• egg whites from 1 medium egg

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a cooking sheet, hopefully with no sides, roll out pâte brisée until it’s about 1/8 inch thick (the size of a good pizza crust).

Take butter, and melt it over medium heat. Do not clarify the butter. Once melted, brush butter once over rolled out pâte brisée. Set aside remaining butter for later use.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar on butter. Place slices of apple in the center of the rolled out pastry-dough in a concentric pattern, leaving at least 1 inch of pastry showing on the edge. Fold the border of the dough over the apples. Brush or drizzle all but 2 teaspoons of the remaining butter over the apples. Sprinkle the remaining sugar and cinnamon over the apples as well.

Brush the showing dough with egg white, and place in the oven.

Bake the galette for 18 minutes. At 18 minutes, reduce the heat of the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake until pastry is golden brown, between 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. Pour remaining butter over the apples and slice and serve.

Two words describe this…Yu–UMMMMM! With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and plenty of sweetened cognac sauce on top…fuhgetaboutit! This is a perfect celebration of the Fall apple harvest.

• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of All-purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 large Granny Smith apples, cored
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup cognac
• 1/4 cup raisins

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspic and nutmeg. Set aside.

Place cored apples in a 8″ x 2″ square baking dish. Fill the cores with the brown sugar mix until it’s overflowing. Put one tablespoon of chilled butter ontop of each apple.

Mix raisins into cognac. Drizzle cognac over apples and butter, and then around apples. Cover dish with aluminum foil. Place in oven, and cook for for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Place in a dish and top with vanilla ice cream. Top ice cream liberally with cognac sauce.

serves 4

Creamier than I expected, this quiche ended up near perfect.

• 1/2 lb. mild Italian Sausage
• 1/2 cup chopped sweet yellow onion
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1 large Red Delicious Apple, pared and cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups whole Milk
• 1 9″ pie shell

Pre-heat ovento 350 Degrees F.

In a skillet, fry up the Italian sausage, onion and thyme. Cook until onions are translucent. Remove from heat, drain off any excess fat and set aside.

In a bowl, toss apple cubes with lemon juice and sugar. Add eggs, milk and cheese, mixing well. Pour into pie shell. Dot the top with sausage.

Place quiche into oven and Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to set for 15 minutes.

Serves 6

‘Cause I can’t seem to get off my apple kick of late, here are some basic tips when it comes to les pommes.

• Poor color doesn’t necessarily mean a weak apple. Brown spots on an apple are fine, as long as there is no softness surrounding it.
• Apples should be firm and free of bruises.
• An apple should have a strong fruity smell to it. If it holds a musty smell, set aside.
• Different varieties have different peak seasons. Research your apple if you want to know when it’s best to pick them.
• Choose your apple based on how you’re going to use it. Check out this handy guide for a clearer example.
• 2 large apples,3 medium sized apples, or 4 small apples all roughly equal 1 pound.
• 1 pound raw = 1/2 pound cooked
• You can revive an apple that has lost some moisture , by chopping them up and soaking in apple juice for 30 minutes.
• To prevent cut apples from browning, spray with lemon juice.
• Apples keep best and longest when refrigerated. Unrefrigerated, apples can become mushy in just two or three days. Purchase them at farmers’ markets where you know they have probably been picked the day before market or at supermarkets where they are kept cool.
• If you can purchase organically grown apples in your local grocery store or farmers’ market, you will be steps ahead in avoiding pesticides.

I liked this pie much beter than the honey/apple pie I made last week. Keep this pie chilled, as there is…sour cream…in it, and you don’t want that to go bad.

Filling

• 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups granny smith apples,peeled and cubed
• 1 9-inch uncooked pie shell

Topping

• 1/3 cup raw sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Pre-heat over to 400 degrees F.

Make the topping first by combining 1/3 cup of raw sugar, 1/3 cup of flour and cinnamon. Cut in 2 Tablespoons of butter, combining them in the sugar/flour mixture, giving the appearance of little pebbles. Add the walnuts, coating them as well. Set aside topping in the refrigerator.

In a medium size mixing bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons flour, salt, 3/4 cup of white sugar, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a seperate mixing bowl, combine egg, sour cream and vanilla,mixing them together quite well. Add egg mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir. Add apples and coat thoroughly with the sour cream mixture. Pour everything into the 9-inch unbaked pie shell.

Place pie in pre-heated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and allow pie to bake another 30 minutes.

Remove the pie from the oven, and place on counter. Increase temperature of oven back to 400 degrees F.

Take the topping from the refrigerator and dust liberally on top of pie. Place pie back in oven and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Serves 8