When I think of fall foods, I include apples, pears, pork, poultry, squash and pumpkin, sweet potatoes, cranberries, cruciferous vegetables and preserves, all found in yummy desserts, one-dish stews, compotes and side dishes. Have you seen the olive oil commercial where a lovely young lady can’t stop producing wonderful dishes and putting them out on a long, groaning table—and then when her husband comes in and asks “What is all this?”, she gives no special reason other than her love of cooking (and the olive oil)? That’s me this time of year. Or, I wish I could do that.
Woman’s Day for October 7, 2008 has an apple cake recipe that’s wonderful. As a matter of fact, they said, “Our staff enthusiastically agree—this may be the best apple cake we’ve ever had.”
Apple-Walnut Cake with Cider Sauce
Serves 16
2 cups sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
¼ cup apple cider
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon,
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 cups flour
2 large Granny Smith apples (3 ½ cups), peeled, cored and sliced
1 ½ cups chopped walnuts
Cider Sauce
2 cups apple cider
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350. Coat a 10-in. tube pan with removable tube insert with nonstick spray. Whisk sugar, oil, apple cider, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until blended. Stir in flour until blended. Stir in apples and walnuts. Scrape mixture into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour and 10 to 20 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack 1 hour. Remove sides of pan. Cool completely before lifting cake off bottom of pan.
Cider Sauce: Whisk cider, brown sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan until blended. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. Boil 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla; stir until butter melts. Let cool to warm or refrigerate until serving.
Pumpkin used to be a nightmare to cook—it was difficult to cut, clean, and when baked, it yielded so much excess water that it had to be allowed to sit in a dripping cheesecloth bag over a bowl for hours before it was useable. Now that the sugar pumpkin is widely available in markets, I have switched from cans to homemade pumpkin. The sugar pumpkin (also known as pie pumpkin) is small and easy to prepare. Cut off the top and bottom ends and peel with a standard vegetable peeler. To make a puree, set a steamer basket in a saucepan filled with 1 inch of water. Cover; bring to a boil. Add 1 sugar pumpkin (approximately 4 pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch chunks. Cover; cook until very tender, about 15 minutes. Puree in a food processor until smooth. Makes 3 ½ cups. Freezes very well. Use as you would canned pumpkin puree.
*Alternative method: Sometimes the pumpkin shell is too tough to cut or peel easily. Stab a sharp knife through the pumpkin several times and place on a microwave-proof dish. Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes. Remove and test to see if the outer shell is penetrable; if not, microwave, testing every 1 minute until it will cut easily. Then cut off the top and scoop out the seeds. Cut in chunks and either steam or microwave until the pumpkin scoops easily off the shell. Puree as above.
The following recipe and the preparation of sugar pumpkin puree are from Everyday Food, October, 2008.
Pumpkin and Pecorino Gratin (Serves 4)
2 slices white sandwich bread
¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 cups Sugar-Pumpkin puree (see above)
2 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
Preheat oven to 450. In a food processor, combine bread and cheese. Season with salt and pepper, and pulse until large crumbs form. Season Sugar-Pumpkin puree with salt and pepper; spoon into a 1-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with crumb mixture, and dot with butter. Bake until crumbs are browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
Cider-Braised Pork Chops (Cooks’s Country, Oct/Nov 2008)
6 bone-in blade-cut pork chops, about 1 inch thick
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ cup apple butter
1 cup apple cider
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Pat chops dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown chops in two batches, about 4 minutes per side; transfer to plate. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. fat from pot and cook onion over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, flour and 2 Tbsp apple butter and cook until onions are coated and mixture is fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in cider and thyme, scraping up any browned bits with wooden spoon, and bring to boil. Add browned chops and any accumulated juices to pot, cover, and transfer to oven. Braise until chops are completely tender, about 1 ½ hours. Transfer chops to serving platter. Strain sauce, then use a shallow spoon to skim off fat. Whisk in vinegar, parsley and remaining apple butter. Season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing sauce at table.
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