Oh, Canada!

I know, I know. I never call. I never write. To be honest, I simply haven't had much time for fabulous cooking--which is kind of sad. I also haven't had time (or is that patience) to tweak the xml formatting, so this blog still has some rough edges. I have updated a few posts with pics of the end product, just to tempt you a little more :)

This quick post is dedicated to an amazing beer. I have the fortune of living very close to a pub and their associated provisions store that import beer from all over the world. And when I say "import", I'm not talking Guinness or Sapporo. I'm talking dozens of international microbrews and honest to God Trappist beer from all the six monasteries that export to the United States.

A few weeks ago I picked up Equinoxe du printemps (Spring equinox) from Brasserie Dieu du Ciel. This is a Scotch ale brewed with maple syrup. It was unlike any beer I've tried. It tastes like good scotch without the bite. Smooth, light, sweet, it goes great with desert. Paramed and I enjoyed ours with Trader Joe's Apple Blossoms (basically an apple dumpling) and vanilla ice cream. This beer makes me love the Canadians even more.

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Alton Brown and Candied Ginger

One of the few things I miss about not having cable: Good Eats. I really enjoy Alton Brown's approach to cooking-perhaps because he spends a lot of time discussing the chemistry of cooking. Plus he reminds me of my gen chem professor-quirky, smart, fun, educational. In fact, I'm convinced that if he wasn't a chef, he'd be a chemist.

Anyway I made his recipe for candied ginger today. It's pretty simple but does take a while to prepare. The end product, though, is great: sweet, crunchy, and spicy. I love it!

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Best Apple(sauce) pie EVER

There is more than one way to skin a cat. Or so I'm told.

There is also more than one way to make an apple pie.

The classic American apple pie--you know, the one you get at a diner or in the frozen food section--typically consists of large chunks or slices of apple in a very sweet, thick sauce, all contained under and in a thick crust. And I don't like it. Something about the texture of the gooey sauce and the lackluster apple flavor... This just isn't my thing.

I grew up with a very different apple pie. Instead of slicing or dicing, the apples were shredded (using a food processor), then mixed with sugar and cinnamon (possible another spice or two), plopped in pie crust and baked (without a top crust). Something about the intense apple flavor and the homogeneity of each bite. This is better.

However, I recently discovered my favorite apple pie in my own kitchen. Applesauce pie presents this paradox of simplicity of ingredients and complexity of flavors. The texture is distinct from either of the two I described. It melts in your mouth. It pleases the tongue. This is a new favorite for Paramed and me.

The lab manual for this experiment was The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook--not one I use frequently but general execution of recipes are deemed successes. An advantage to this particular recipe is that it is best once it has cooled completely, so you can make it a day or two in advance of serving it without a problem--provided you have a safe with biometric scanners in which to store it.

So, just in time for the holidays:

Applesauce pie

Reagents

• 10 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 large lemon, sliced and seeded
• 2-1/2 cups of sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter (or margarine)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated piecrusts (don't forget to bring to room temperature before use)
  

Protocol

• Cook the apples, lemon, and sugar in a Dutch oven (or a very large skillet or pot) over medium heat, stirring often, until thickened (~35 to 40 min). Remove from heat. Discard lemon. Add butter and vanilla. Allow to cool.
• Fit 1 pie crust to a 9-inch pie plate. Pour applesauce filling into crust.
• Unroll, cut remaining pie crust into 1/2-inch wide strips, and arrange in lattice pattern over filling. Other top crust options would probably work and be less complicated to execute. As you can see in the pic, I opted to leave the top crust off altogether on another occasion.
• Bake on lowest rack in over at 425 F for 30 to 35 min or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
• Try to keep your spouse from eating it all before serving it.
  

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The Great Pumpkin... recipe

There was a pumpkin slaughter at my home last night. And it was so worth it.

I've been planning to make Disgruntled Julie's Chocolate Chip Pudding Pumpkin Bread for a few weeks, but there's always something else to do. Well, I was in desperate need of some therapeutic baking last night, so I stayed up late to make it. It is absolutely delicious. Run! Get some pumpkins!! Make this soon, if not today!

As a note on the pumpkin puree, I used sugar pumpkins, ~2 lbs. each. They had a really hard outer shell; cutting them in half involved a large butcher's and a metal meat mallet. I'm considering the jigsaw next time--seriously. Anyway, once I had cleaved them in two, I scooped out all the seeds and as much of the stringy guts that I could. I then placed them cut side down on a large cookie sheet with a thin layer of water and baked them at 350 degrees F for ~ 1 to 1-1/5 hours. After letting them cool, I scooped out the pumpkin flesh and beat it in my KitchenAid mixer with the paddle attachment on low (setting 2) for a few minutes until it was a nice, homogeneous consistency. I think most people use a food processor, but I don't have one and have no space to store one in my tiny kitchen. Three pumpkins made about 7 cups of puree. Unused puree can be aliquoted and frozen.

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