Recipe: Apple Pie with Crumble Topping

We went apple picking recently and decided to use the apples to make a pie. It turned out really well, although there was quite a bit of topping, which we might not use all of next time...

• Ingredients:
• Crust:
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1/4 cup frozen solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 3 tablespoons ice water

• Filling:
• 3 1/4 pounds apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/4" thick (this tool is our secret weapon)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• Topping:
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes

• Instructions for the Crust:
  Mix flour, salt, and sugar in large bowl. Add butter and shortening; rub in with fingertips until coarse meal forms. Mix 3 tablespoons ice water and vinegar in small bowl to blend. Drizzle over flour mixture; stir with fork until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate 30 minutes.
  

  

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12" round. Transfer to 9" glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1/2"; turn edge under and crimp decoratively. Refrigerate while preparing filling and topping.

For the filling

• Mix all ingredients in large bowl to coat apples.
  

  

• For the Topping:
  Blend first 5 ingredients in processor. Add chilled butter cubes; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles wet sand.
  

  
• Toss filling to redistribute juices; transfer to crust, mounding in center. Pack topping over and around apples. Bake pie on baking sheet until topping is golden, about 40 minutes (cover top with foil if browning too quickly). Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until apples in center are tender when pierced and filling is bubbling thickly at edges, about 45 minutes longer. Cool until warm, about 1 hour. 
  

  

  recipe based on this.

What We're Talking About This Week

Brad Pitt in Fight Club

This is an AMAZING weekend for one of our favorite recurring LA events, Cinespia.  This weekend's outdoor movie screenings in Hollywood Forever are Grindhouse on Friday and Fight Club on Saturday. 

San Francisco's Chinatown has had a varied history since its inception in 1848, and has been hugely influential on Chinese food in America.  We look forward to exploring it more through the regional dishes on this list.

 Starbucks bought local San Francisco bakery chain La Boulange in 2012 to get their French pastry recipes into Starbucks stores nationwide.  Now the coffee company is systematically closing La Boulange locations, breaking the hearts of many Bay Areans. 

Apple made their big new product announcements this week, and while we can't wait for the taco emoji and rose gold iPhone, nothing got as as excited as the Hermès Apple watch.  It's going right to the top of our Christmas wishlist...

Dungeness crab season has begun!

For many people Labor Day signifies the end of summer, but here in California it's just a long weekend - we'll be enjoying warm weather well into October.  However, we are looking forward to the new batch of fresh ingredients that are in season this month.

Thanksgiving Menu: Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

This soup is a perfect starter for Thanksgiving dinner, and can be made in advance to cut down on cooking the day of.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large yellow onions, chopped
2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
2 large butternut squash
4 Fuji apples
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups apple cider
creme fraiche
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
-In a dutch oven melt the butter and add the olive oil. Add the chopped onions and yellow curry, and cook over low heat, stirring until onions are translucent. 

-Peel and seed the squash, and cut into chunks. Peel and core the apples and cut into chunks.

-Add the squash, apples and vegetable stock to the onions, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and cover and cook until the squash and apples soften. Using an immersion blender, puree until everything is smooth.

-Add the apple cider and salt and pepper to taste. Pour into bowls and garnish with a dollop of creme fraiche. 

Serves 6.

Based on Ina Garten's recipe in Barefoot Contessa Parties.

Recipe: Latkes with Applesauce & Creme Fraiche

Ingredients for the Applesauce:

3 Golden Delicious apples
1 McIntosh apple
The juice of 1 lemon
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 sprig of fresh thyme
Water

Peel the apples, and slice them very thinly.  Place in a pot with the cinnamon and thyme, add the lemon juice, and fill it so the fruit is covered about 2/3rds of the way in water.  Bring to a simmer, and cook covered for about an hour.  Be sure to keep checking every few moments and adding water as needed - the water shouldn't be allowed to evaporate until it's finished.  Once done, remove the cinnamon stick and thyme, then stir the apples carefully to leave them slightly chunky.

Ingredients for the Latkes:

4 large russet potatoes
1 large yellow onion
1/4 cup of flour
2 egg whites
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil

Peel the potatoes and onion, then grate them on a box grater.  Once grated, wrap them in a cheesecloth and place in a strainer over the sink.  Press down on the cheesecloth wrapped vegetables, pushing out as much moisture as possible.

Put the grated vegetables in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and mix in the flour and egg whites.  Form into 4 inch pancakes, heat about half the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, and cook as many as will fit in the pan, about 4 minutes on each side.  Keep frying until you go through all of the pancake mix, adding more oil to the pan as needed.  Drain the latkes on paper towels.  They should be served immediately, or can be kept in a warm (200 degree) oven for a few minutes until ready to serve.

Once ready, top the latkes with the applesauce and creme fraiche.

Serves 4-6, depending if as a main course or side.

Recipe: Apple Sponge Cake with Caramel Sauce

This recipe was adapted for US bakers from a recipe entitled Apple Pepper Pot Cake in the British version of the Jamie Oliver cook book Jamie's Great Britain.  It makes great use of local apples and hard cider, and is a very unique cake - the caramel sauce alone is a revelation.

Caramel Sauce:

1 stick butter (use the best quality you can, salted or unsalted depends on preference, but I generally use salted)
1 cup raw or brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Pinch of ground gloves
3 heaping tablespoons of creme fraiche

Sponge Cake:

About 6 small apples such as Braeburn (enough to cover the bottom of the baking dish when cut into quarters)
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup raw or granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 cup hard apple cider
2 oranges for zesting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit.

Grease a 10" round baking dish or cast iron pan with butter, and line the bottom with greased parchment paper.

Core and quarter the apples and set aside.

In a separate saucepan, also at least 10", melt the butter for the caramel sauce on low heat.  Add the other ingredients and bring to a boil, then turn down to allow the sauce to simmer, and add the apple quarters in one layer.  Continue to cook for about twenty minutes, occasionally stirring and turning the apples, allowing the fruit to soften and the caramel to thicken.

While the apples and caramel are cooking, begin to cream the butter and sugar for the sponge.  Mix in the eggs one at a time, then add half the flour, the baking soda, and the cider.  Mix well, then add the remaining flour and the orange zest.

Spoon the apples out of the caramel, trying not to take too much of the sauce with them, and place them on the parchment in the baking dish.  Then pour the sponge batter over the apples, and spread it evenly.  Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Once it comes out of the oven, allow the cake to cool for about ten minutes, then carefully invert it on to a plate. 

While the cake is baking, the caramel can be set aside at room temperature.  Once the cake is cooling, turn the heat on to low for the caramel and stir in the creme fraiche.  After the cake is inverted on the plate, pour over the caramel sauce, and serve warm.