Grilled Cheese With Apple and Mustard

Last week I was testing out a gratin recipe that I was sure was going to be fantastic. Swiss chard, sweet potatoes, onions, ricotta cheese -- I couldn’t resist the mix of ingredients. But for the labor involved (individually cooking said chard, potatoes, and onions, for example), I needed a bigger payoff. A full hour into recipe prep I was considering chucking the whole thing for a grilled cheese sandwich.

And why not grilled cheese? There’s nothing pretentious or complicated about grilled cheese -- not when I make it, anyway. And it’s a perfect counterpoint for this overloaded food-intensive time of the year.

The next time you are in the mood for a grilled cheese sandwich (hmmm, I could go for one now), I humbly suggest this combination:

• Challah or sturdy bread, such as sourdough
• Sharp cheddar cheese
• A smear of Dijon mustard
• Sliced apple, such as Cortland, Macintosh, or Granny Smith

Butter the top and bottom of the sandwich and cook in a flat-bottomed skillet over medium heat until the bread is golden and the cheese is melted. Serve the remaining apple on the side. If you want to up the comfort food factor, finish the meal with a couple of cookies and a glass of milk.

Week 17: The Apple Cake of Many Names

I suppose it doesn’t look much like a slice of birthday cake. No layers; no frosting. But since my birthday fell on the eve of Rosh Hashanah this year, I went with something holiday appropriate. (And if eating sweet foods can ensure a sweet year, my family is surely covered.)

I’m not sure what to call this cake. Sometimes it’s known as a Jewish apple cake -- “Jewish,” presumably, because it’s dairy free and therefore a dessert suitable for meat-containing meals. Apparently it’s also a “Philadelphia-style apple cake,” as explained in this 2006 article from the Philadelphia City Paper. I grew up in Philly, but I had no idea that this kind of cake is something of a regional specialty. (I didn’t visit enough bake shops, I guess.) The cake might also be called a “German apple cake” or “Any Country in Eastern Europe apple cake”; it’s standard fare from that part of the globe.

Whatever you call this cake, the key thing is that it’s an oil-based cake -- moist, sweet, and on the dense side. Cut it into sixteenths and no one will feel slighted by the size of the piece.

The Apple Cake of Many Names

(From Relish magazine, with trivial changes)

6 cups peeled, sliced apples (About 3 apples. Granny Smith recommended, but use whatever is local and seasonal)

4 tsp cinnamon mixed with 5 Tbsp granulated sugar

1.5 cups additional granulated sugar

3 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup canola oil

1/2 cup orange juice

2.5 tsp vanilla extract

Extra oil, sugar, and flour for preparing pan

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly grease a 10-inch Bundt pan or tube pan, then sugar and flour the pan.

Combine the sliced apples with the cinnamon-sugar mixture and set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with brown sugar and the remaining granulated sugar. Add in the canola oil, orange juice, and vanilla, and beat well. Gradually stir in the flour mixture and blend well.

Pour one-third of the batter into the prepared pan, and top with half of the apple slices. Make a second layer of batter and fruit in the same manner, then top with the last third of batter, making sure the apples are covered.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until the top turns golden and a knife inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Very nice served with a glass of hot tea at the end of a big meal.

Week 15: Apple Pielettes

It's not often that you can say “I ate the whole pie myself,” and not feel a twinge of guilt or indigestion.

This week's recipe falls right into two food trends -- pie and miniature desserts -- but I don't care. These “pielettes” are just So. Darn. Cute. And tasty. And relatively quick to make, provided you keep to small-batch cooking and you forgo the little lattices and just use a cookie-cutter shape on top of each pie. Trust me on this.

These pies have a short baking time, so you can use apple varieties that tend to break down too much to go solo in a full-size pie. I had some early-season Macs from the CSA and I'm happy to report that they didn't turn into applesauce inside the pie crust. Just stay away from super-sweet varieties of apples. You need some tartness to balance out the sugar, and you need the sugar for a decent pie filling.

Apple Pielettes

(Adapted from this recipe. Makes 6 single-serve pies. For the best crust, keep the butter and water very cold and don't overwork the dough.)

Filling

3 cups diced apples (from 2 to 3 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into a 3/8-inch dice)

3/8 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 T flour

Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 tsp salt

2 T chilled water

Mix all of the filling ingredients together and set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse once or twice to blend. Sprinkle butter pieces on top and pulse a couple of times until the butter pieces are about the size of peas. Sprinkle water on top of the flour mixture (you may not need all of it, depending on the humidity and temperature of your kitchen) and pulse a few times until the mixture just begins to stick together.

Turn the flour mixture out onto a floured surface and knead together gently. Roll out the dough to a quarter-inch thickness, using a floured rolling pin.

Cut out 6 circles, using a 4-inch cookie or biscuit cutter or an overturned bowl or container. (An empty container from a pound of cole slaw or cottage cheese works well for this.) Reroll scraps of dough as needed. Use the remaining dough to cut lattice pieces or small shapes for the top crust.

Press each dough circle into a muffin tin, making contact with the bottom and sides of the tin and folding the dough along the sides as necessary. Divide the filling among the crusts, mounding it up a bit to compensate for any sinking of the filling as it bakes. Top with dough pieces as desired.

Place the muffin tin onto a baking tray to catch any spillovers of filling. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned and the filling is bubbling.

Cool completely on a rack. Use a knife to loosen around the edges of each pie, and use a spoon or knife to gently push the pies out from the tin.

Chicken With Apples, and a Review of the Season

It's been a couple of weeks now since our last CSA pickup, and I'm reflecting on the season. Whereas 2009 was categorized by excessive rain and clouds, this year we had crop-withering heat and drought. What a visceral reminder of the unpredictable nature of farming!

A couple of crops did very well. Our farm supplied us with 174 peaches (that's somewhere between 43 and 58 pounds); 81 ears of corn; and 42 apples. I have samples of each of these in my freezer for the months to come. On the other hand, I've seen enough green tomatoes, thank you (several dozen, between the farm and our own plants), and I'm ready to forget about that wretched broccoli rabe.

As I go on hiatus, I leave you with a chicken dish that's quick to make and brings in the flavors of fall.

Chicken With Apples

(Adapted recipe; origin unknown)

3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (pounded to be no more than 3/4 inch thick)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 apple, cored, halved, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 cup apple juice
1 large onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Heat oil in a large skillet. Saute the chicken for about 3 minutes per side, or until golden. Add the remaining ingredients except for the mustard. Bring the liquid to a boil, lower heat, then cover the skillet and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from the skillet, whisk in the mustard, then return chicken to the sauce. Heat through and serve.

Cupcake Nation

Squeeze a couple of hundred people into a neighborhood bar, throw in free cupcakes from dozens of professional and home bakers, and whaddya get? Cupcake Camp!

This wacky event made its Boston-area debut this week. Naturally, I baked, as did my good friend from Doves and Figs (she of the Farmer's Market Fudge Cakes mentioned in the Boston Globe article). My contribution was two dozen Mini Applesauce Cupcakes With Cinnamon Buttercream. These cupcakes had a CSA connection: They were baked with the last of my homemade applesauce from the fall. I was pleased to see that they were gone within the first hour.

As for choosing cupcakes to sample, that was hard. (Hmmmm. Root Beer Float cupcakes or Guinness and Bailey's? Or maybe the Hostess look-alikes?) I opted for an orange and vanilla "creamsicle" cupcake that was lovely and light, and an organic mocha cupcake, which, despite the whole wheat flour, still tasted like a treat.

By the time we left Cupcake Camp (around 8:30 p.m., before sugar comas set in), the line to get in the door stretched down the block, and "bouncers" were making sure no one left with cupcakes, lest the masses go unfed. Cupcakes as contraband! Who knew?

* * *

Cupcake Camp was just the culmination of a couple of cupcake-filled weeks. I was a kitchen assistant one morning for Doves and Figs' bat mitzvah dessert project. I think the total was 13 dozen cupcakes. (I'm inspired by this Cupcake Goddess, but not so inspired as to take on a similar project for Kit's bat mitzvah.) And I baked Smitten Kitchen's Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes for home toward the end of Passover. I skipped the mint cream part and just topped the dimpled cupcakes with sliced strawberries. Caboodle wants me to make a batch of these for her birthday in June. By that time, I may want to see cupcakes again.

Mini Applesauce Cupcakes With Cinnamon Buttercream
(Adapted Recipe)

The cake recipe originates with one that appeared on a can of Ideal applesauce (Acme supermarket's house brand) sometime in the 1970s. The cake is egg-free and can be made dairy-free, although it tastes better with butter. Because the cake is so moist, I recommend using foil cupcake liners over paper ones. Frosting is optional.

For the cake:
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup melted butter (or substitute non-dairy margarine or flavorless cooking oil)
1 pound applesauce (homemade or store-bought, mostly smooth and without added sugar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set cupcake liners into mini-muffin tins. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, spices, and baking soda. (Yes, that means you sift the flour twice: Before you measure it and again when you combine it with the other dry ingredients. But you can get by with just the first sifting.)

Stir in the melted butter and applesauce until well blended. (A wooden spoon works well. No need to pull out the mixer.) Spoon batter into cupcake liners. Bake 20 minutes or until done; a cake taster should come out dry or with only a little moist crumb. Remove cupcakes from the tin and cool on a wire rack completely before frosting. Makes 2.5 to 3 dozen mini cupcakes, depending on the size of your cupcake pans and liners.

For the frosting:
(Slight adaptation of standard Domino Sugar buttercream)

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 pound powdered sugar (that's roughly 1 7/8 cups)
1 1/2 to 2 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon, or more to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until creamy. (Use a low speed to keep the sugar from flying about.) Add more milk if needed for the frosting to be right consistency for spreading. Pipe or spread frosting on completely cool cupcakes.

The Supermarket Season

We're probably not eating much local produce these days -- it's hard to know where the vegetables in our Big Chain Supermarket come from -- but the "seasonal" eating continues. I couldn't resist the Bright Lights Swiss chard. Try it with apples and carmelized onions for a colorful side dish. The sweetness of the onion and the fruit offsets the natural bitterness of the chard. I served the chard with pasta and fish, but it would go equally well with poultry or beef.

Swiss Chard With Apple and Carmelized Onion

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, chopped (about 3 cups)
2 Cortland apples, large dice, with peel on (about 2 cups)
1 bunch Swiss chard, washed, stems and leaves separated and chopped

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet that has a lid. Cook the onion over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes or until the onion begins to brown and carmelize. Stir in the apple and Swiss chard stems, and cook the mixture for about 5 minutes. Stir in the chard leaves, cover the skillet, and cook for 5 minutes more or until the chard is wilted to your liking. Season with salt and pepper if you wish.

Apple Notes and a Squash Recipe

The farm season is truly over now: It snowed here. Yeesh! That's all the more reason to be warming up the kitchen with some cooking. So here are a few notes before I take a short hiatus from CSA posts:

• Applesauce is a wonderful thing. I made a couple of batches in the past week, using up 8 pounds of apples. Applesauce Cake is not far behind.

• I tried out this Sweet Apple Pie Bread earlier this week. It's a quick bread--not especially pie-like--but it's virtually fat-free, especially if you use a skim milk-and-vinegar substitute for buttermilk. Watch out for the way the measurements are written: 1 "T" means a teaspoon of baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon, and not a tablespoon.

• Searching for something to do with fish, I came across Teriyaki Trout with Snappy Apple Salsa by The Crispy Cook. Oooooh, this was tasty. I used Arctic char instead of Steelhead trout, and I didn't marinate the fish for more than 15 minutes, but it worked. The salsa features apple and fennel, which I found I liked despite not being overly fond of licorice. (I had plenty of leftover fennel, so I sliced and roasted it with parsnips and carrots for another dinner this week. I told you I was cooking.)

• With the sudden turn to cold weather, I had a craving for soup. What a good way to use up my final container of Hubbard squash puree! This recipe is liberally adapted from one in the Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook. If you don't have a Hubbard squash (sigh), try butternut or acorn. (I bet it would work with pumpkin, too.) Roast, boil or steam the squash to get the cooked pulp.

Squash Soup
(Inspired by Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1.5 cups water
1 apple, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups cooked squash pulp
1.5 cups tomato juice
0.5 cups orange juice
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot. Saute onion and spices until onion is translucent. Add water, apple and celery, cover and simmer about 10 minutes.

Remove bay leaves. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the onion mixture to a food processor. Puree the onion mixture and squash and return to the liquid in the pot. Add the tomato juice and orange juice and mix well. Gently reheat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bonus Post: Spiked Apples!

Sometimes I stray from the model of veggies-grains-beans. We had beef brisket the other night, so I made these baked apples with herbs, shallots and wine. The recipe is not a slam-dunk--I found it to be a little too sweet--but it's worth trying. (You can safely ignore the part about pomegranate molasses.)

Even better was Buttered Rum Apples. I concocted the recipe, inspired by one that has even more alcohol in it. It was a decadent birthday dessert served with French vanilla ice cream.

Buttered Rum Apples

2 large Cortland apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into half-inch thick pieces
2 ounces butter (1/2 stick)
3 Tbsp light brown sugar
4 ounces dark rum
French vanilla ice cream

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute apples briefly and add in the sugar and rum. Simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens. Split the apples between two dessert bowls and top with a scoop of ice cream.

Week 14: How Do You Like Them Apples?

Very much, thank you.

THIS WEEK'S HITS: Dutch Baby and Apple Salsa
A RECOMMENDATION on good authority: Apple Cider Salmon

There were no grand family discussions about "seasonal eating" when I was growing up, but that's how my mother shopped. Berries in May. Corn in July. Apples in September.

Whether availability or cost was the overriding factor back then, I can't say. But as an adult, I find it hard to buy those California strawberries in the middle of January. After 20 years in New England, I have become indelibly attached to the local growing season.

Our harvest is full and varied now. Corn and cauliflower, eggplant and tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers. School's in session and the first apples are in. Frost can't be far away.

We've had some fun with apple recipes this week. Dutch Baby is a puffy oven pancake that would be good for a brunch. Apple Salsa was an addictive snack; we piled it onto blue corn tortilla chips. For an interesting entree idea, check out my friend Robin's column and her recipe for Apple Cider Salmon. I haven't made it yet, but I know Robin's cooking and her recipe sounds like a winner.

Dutch Baby
Adapted from The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine

Batter Ingredients

1 cup milk (non-fat is okay)
4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp melted butter

Filling Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter
3 apples (Cortland recommended), peeled, cored and thickly sliced
2 Tbsp sugar

Directions

Using a blender, thoroughly combine milk and eggs. Add the flour, salt, sugar, vanilla, and melted butter. Blend again until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the batter to a container, cover, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.

When you are ready to make the pancake, set the oven to 450 degrees and butter a 9-inch square or round baking dish.

Prepare the filling: Melt the 2 Tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the apples, cook for 1 minute, then turn the apples over carefully. Sprinkle with the sugar and continue to cook for 2 minutes more or until the apples soften slightly.

Transfer the apples to the dish. Whisk the batter thoroughly and pour on top of the apples. Bake the dish, without opening the oven door, for 25 to 30 minutes or until the pancake is puffed and golden.

Apple Salsa
(Recipe origin unknown. If it's yours, thank you.)

Combine in a bowl:

2 large or 3 medium apples, cored and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, finely chopped
Handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Juice of one lemon
2 teaspoons maple syrup

The salsa can be served right away or made in advance; the flavors blend overnight.